


The Deal with Lucifer

by Avrina



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Business, Contracts, Dating, Developing Relationship, Discovering Femdom, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family, Family Issues, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Sex, Light Femdom, Loss of Parent(s), Male Friendship, Past Relationship(s), Shy Guy - Freeform, Shyness, Slow Burn, Strong Female Characters, Wealth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 31,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24682246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avrina/pseuds/Avrina
Summary: The souls of Aiden and Erin were sold before they were even born.They're each threatened with being stuck in some crappy family contract- and then Lucifer shows up. If they fulfill his conditions, he solves their judicial problem for them and on top of that they get back their souls.But while the shy mechanic Aiden has to do all sorts of little tasks, business-girl Erin has to have a relationship.And she chooses Aiden as a fake-boyfriend...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will be updated rather irregular. If you like it and want another chapter, just leave a comment =)

„Hey, Dad. I finished the paperwork of-" Aiden paused when he saw the heavy black Mercedes pull up right in front of the big glass front. In the back, a blonde young woman got out, dressed in dark gray business suits and high-sheen black pumps. With her briefcase tucked under her arm and with an angry face talking on the phone, she entered the public area of the car repair service.

"... I'll tell you again, Josy. Friday nights are sacred to me. I don't know which strenuous things _you_ do during the week, but _my_ hat's off today if I have to smile politely any longer!" She tripped up to the counter and Aiden, standing frozen next to his father Lucas behind the very counter, felt for a moment the desire to smooth off her furiously narrowed brows.   
"No. I am not going out tonight nor tomorrow. And not next week. No. I have another appointment. Bye, Josy." She made a most unladylike annoyed sound, slapped her phone on the counter and put her bag down, then sighed.   
"Mr. Matthews. Please tell me I'm not here for nothing."

This reminded Aiden of why he had come from the garage to the front in the first place and in a hurry he handed his father the clipboard with the papers and the car keys. "Ladybug is ready for take off, Miss Callahan," he said quietly, and Lucas chuckled suppressed. Miss Callahan gave Aiden an honest if tired smile and he felt himself blushing. His hands were dirty, his work clothes were dirty, and he was sure he had oil residue on his face somewhere.

"Thank you, Aiden."

His stomach did a somersault.

"Did you check the humming I told you about?"

He nodded hastily. "I did some... there was... I put some extra sheathing on some of the wires because..."

Lucas cleared his throat and saved his son from further stammering. "Your bill, Miss Callahan. If you sign and give me your credit card, Ladybug is all yours again." Ladybug- Miss Callahan's little fire-red Citroen that Aiden had spent most of the day working on to replace one damn little piece.

Miss Callahan merely nodded at Lucas and looked at the bill before she sighed and signed it with the pen provided. "Round it up, Mr. Matthews," she said as usual and her smile, if possible, grew a little warmer.

"I can't do that and you know it," Lucas returned amused and handed her the card reader. Aiden was so fixated on Miss Callahan that he didn't notice Lucas' movements at all, although he must have reached right past him. She fished her wallet out of her briefcase and unerringly pulled her credit card out of the worn brown wallet which didn't match her appearance at all. When Lucas accepted the card, she pulled out a ten-dollar banknote, folded it and stuck it in the piggy bank in the shape of a coffee cup. She did it every time.

"God, these shoes are killing me," she murmured, typing her PIN into the device with one hand while she carelessly pulled a shoe off her foot with the other. Seconds later, she was a good deal shorter and her face a little more relaxed.

"Surely you don't want to drive barefoot," it slipped from Aiden and she laughed softly.

"For God's sake, no. I have different shoes to drive with. They're in the blue bag under the passenger seat." She gave Aiden a conspiratorial wink and his face began to burn. "But don't tell anyone. The others think it's bad enough that I'm driving myself."

He nodded silently and Lucas laughed softly.

"Thank you, Miss Callahan, and honor us again soon."

Miss Callahan might resemble either a tough businesswoman or a spoiled brat, but behind that facade was a very nice young woman. She laughed at Lucas' mocking words and put away her card. "I think Ladybug is enjoying the treatment Aiden is giving her. My account, however, rather less so."

Aiden's face suffered another heat wave.

"Anyway, I'm due for a check-up this summer, aren't I?"

Lucas clicked on the terminal a few times and nodded. "But we're already pretty booked up for the check-ups. Does it matter when?"

"Take the first Tuesday off. Oh, and of course, I'm only giving Ladybug to Aiden." She winked at him again.

"That'll take till June."

"It's not that urgent."

Lucas nodded again, and then her phone buzzed when the system sent her directly a message with the scheduled appointment.

"Thank you, Mr. Matthew Senior and Junior. See you in June." After smiling brightly at father and son, she walked past the counter to the back door - barefoot, bag under her arm and pumps in her hands.

Aiden found back to his manners and opened the door leading to the courtyard where her car was still waiting for her. In return he got another short smile before she disappeared into the dimly lit corridor. He closed the door and turned around as Lucas laughed softly.

"When are you gonna ask her out?"

Aiden's shoulders slumped down. "She wouldn't go out with me anyway," he replied quietly, reaching for a clipboard on the task board to turn to the next car.

"Why not?" Lucas wanted to know and tilted his head in question.

Aiden sighed. "Come on, Dad. She's way out of my league. I can't afford the restaurants she probably likes."

Now it was Lucas who sighed. "She's not that far off. I'm just a little mechanic like you, and yet I scored the hottest med student on campus."

"And how long did that last?" Aiden asked provocatively and raised an eyebrow; he knew the answer and was not surprised by Lucas' eye rolling.

"It was enough to bring a wonderful son into the world."

"When in doubt, a single night is all it takes, Dad, and that's not what I want."

"So you don't want to sleep with her?" Lucas raised his eyebrows in exaggerated surprise.

"Dad, please..." His cheeks were already warm again.

"Come on, Aiden, you're acting like a teenager. Just put your balls in your pants straight and ask her. Even if she says _no_ , it's not the end of the world..."

Aiden sighed and shook his head slightly, then he lifted the clipboard suggestively. "I'm gonna get back to work..."

Lucas' sigh echoing behind him almost seemed disappointed.

~

The door fell into the lock and even before Erin could put the keys in their bowl, her phone began to hum. With an annoyed sigh, she pulled the thing out of her bag.

"Hey, Josy..."

"Listen, I know you don't want to go tomorrow, but listen-"

"Josy, please. I finally have my well-earned weekend."

"You work too hard, sweetie. That's why I say you need to relax more."

Erin sighed, switched on the loudspeaker and placed her bag on the desk, which was hidden on the edge of the living room behind a wall of bookshelves. Josy babbled excitedly about several parties that had been announced for the next few weeks, and in the meantime, Erin moved into the bedroom. She peeled off her clothes and slipped into sweatpants, an old t-shirt and an oversized sweater. Josy was still babblingwhen she went to the kitchen.

"...and- Wait! Wait!"

"What?" Erin had only listened with half an ear and turned on her coffee machine.   
  
"Oh, Erin!" Josy squealed with joy. "Jayden just wrote! He wants to give a home party in two weeks."

"Wow..." Erin mumbled weakly, then she paused. "Which Jayden are we talking about?"

"Well, Jayden _Sterling_ , silly! The Sterlings haven't given a real party in _ages_." Josy sounded like she first rolled her eyes and then put on a fake pout.

"Jayden Sterling? He shows up to parties as rarely as I do." A little irritated, Erin pushed a button on the coffee machine, which then started buzzing.

"That's why this is so special and you _have_ to come. No arguments." Josy was suddenly deadly serious, but Erin knew her friend pretty well after twenty years of friendship - the girl with the chocolate skin changed her mood more often than a nurse disinfected her hands.

"I'll think about it, okay?" Erin replied with a sigh and continued into Josy's enthusiastic cheering: "Now let me drink my coffee"- she took milk from the fridge- "because otherwise I'm categorically canceling all parties for the rest of the year." Having done this once before, Josy immediately fell silent. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay." Josy said calmly. "Can I tell you Sunday how it was?"

"Sure..."

"Okay, see you then! Kisses!"

Erin took a deep breath and then sat down with her coffee at the little table in her kitchen. Until the big cup was half empty, she concentrated solely on the coffee, then allowed her thoughts to wander.

Josy had been born into economic wealth just like her, but while Josy was busy with parties and men, Erin was actually working for the family business - and no small amount. Jayden Sterling was one of the rich kids, too, but like Erin, he worked hard for his money. So if he was giving a party, there had to be a reason for it and if she was honest, it made her a little curious.

She sat back and drank her coffee, then picked up her phone again and scrolled through the endless messages in the muted girl group chat on WhatsApp. Most of it she just skimmed over, but then she read her name.

_"Erin's not coming tomorrow, I knew it,"_ Josy wrote and Clary replied:   
  
_"She needs a guy."  
_   
_"Urgent, I know."  
_   
The discussion lasted until now, and Erin typed:   
_"You know I'm reading this?"  
_  
 _"But that's the point! That you read it and do something about it,"_ Zoe returned.  
  
 _"That's right. You can't go on working and doing nothing all the time,"_ Sarah agreed.  
  
 _"It's contradictory,"_ Erin remarked, but no one seemed to mind. There was talk _about_ her, but not directly _to_ her, which in itself was nothing new- it was just annoying. Especially since she didn't want a boyfriend at all. She didn't have the time or the nerve or the will to have a relationship. Especially not with one of the guys that were thrown into the discussion by her friends, because most of them couldn't do anything with a woman like Erin - and she couldn't do anything with the guys either.   
She wasn't the perfect housewife, and she didn't want anyone demanding that of her.   
She didn't want someone who rested on his inherited wealth.   
She wouldn't mind bringing the money home if her husband did the housework and raised the children, but none of the men she knew would have agreed.

So she let the girls talk and gossip, picked up a book and made herself comfortable on the couch.


	2. Chapter 2

"Aiden... Aiden!"

"Hmm?" Aiden lifted his gaze from the papers. Lucas stood before him, a tired look on his face.

"How long are you gonna sit here?"

"I'm just finishing Delapore," Aiden replied, tapping on the papers in front of him. "Won't be long now. Why?"

A smile appeared on Lucas' face. "I wanted to invite you for pizza."

"Just like that?" Suspiciously, Aiden looked at his father who was grinning wryly.

"Pizza, cheap soda, Xbox... the usual."

"It's Wednesday and we're both on early duty tomorrow."

"I know. But I feel like a little father-son time." Lucas shrugged and Aiden sighed.

"Sound like embarrassing questions we both know the answers to."

"Oh, come on, Aiden..."

"I'm past the age where you can ask me with a critical eye if I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but I've reached the age where I'd like to be a grandfather."

Aiden rolled his eyes.

"Will you ask her?"

"What?"

"Miss Erin Callahan. Will you ask her out when she comes in June?"

"Dad..." A little tortured, Aiden made a face.

"Aiden..." Lucas imitated the facial expression and the tone of voice. "Promise me you'll ask her. Or," suddenly he seemed disturbingly enthusiastic, "you'll trick a little."

"Tricking? What should I trick where?" Irritated, Aiden raised his brows.

"Oh, well, for example, you could arrange for her to come here, her car's not ready, the last bus has left, and you offer to take her home." With Aiden's skeptical glance, Lucas added: "You have to take advantage of local circumstances, son." The garage was on the outskirts of town and had a lousy bus service.

"She'll get a rental car for the check-up."

"Yes, but she'd have to extend it, pay extra, blah, blah..." Lucas made a dismissive gesture and Aiden shook his head with a narrow smile.

"If you got mum with a move like that, it explains why it didn't last..."

Lucas snorted in annoyance. "Oh please... a little help is allowed..."

"This puts your statement _'I'm going out with someone'_ in a whole new light," Aiden returned in an emphatically neutral manner and received an eye-rolling response. Ever since Aiden had asked his father for the first time fifteen years ago whether he had a girlfriend, the answer was always the same.

"At least I'm going out."

"And somehow I suspect you have several ladies at once."

"I don't have the time for this." Lucas stuck his tongue out at his son and he laughed softly.

"It's okay, Dad."

"Tsk. Better ask Ladybug's mistress out than bugging your old man."

"Hey, who started this?" They both took a long look at each other and then started to laugh softly.

"Jump over your own shadow, Aiden," Lucas then said gently and Aiden sighed, immediately the mood was gone.

"Will you leave me alone if I promise to?" he wanted to know and made a hopeful face before he realized the extent of his words.

"For now, yes. But then, God have mercy on you if you don't." Lucas playfully threatened, lifting his forefinger.

"If there's a merciful God, he wouldn't have made me so damn shy. Not with those parents," Aiden returned and re-tapped on his papers. "Now let me finish the paperwork, Delapore shows up first thing in the morning."

"So now it's _yes_ to the promise and _yes_ to the pizza?" Lucas asked with a smile and Aiden sighed.

"You're horrible, Dad."

"And yet, you love me." Now Lucas grinned broadly and Aiden sighed again, but this time with a smile.

"Of course. You're the most horrible best dad in the world."

"I'll take that as a _yes_ , best son in the world."

Since Aiden couldn't get out of the deal anyway, he saved himself an answer.  
  


~  
  


The smell of grilled meat pricked Erin's nose as she stepped out onto the terrace. At the edge of the elaborately paved area was a large barbecue, which was served by one of the Sterlings' many employees.

"We'll be a little while longer, miss," the man said apologetically and Erin nodded with a smile.

"It's okay, I just wanted some fresh air." And have a little rest, because the others had decided to get the drinks out _before_ dinner and that started to escalate even before the alcohol could have any effect. Maybe she should just go home.

"Hey... what are you doing out here all alone?"

She winced at Jayden's question and turned around. He also stepped out onto the terrace and closed the door behind him before taking the few steps over to her.

"Fresh air and a little rest for my ears," she replied belatedly and he laughed softly.

"Had I known how quickly this would get out of hand, I would have thought twice about this party."

Since she hadn't had the chance to do so before, she now asked curiously: "Why are you of all people giving a house party for no apparent reason?"

A strange smile appeared on his face, a little embarrassed and dreamy at the same time. "You've heard about Tanner, haven't you?"

Irritated, she raised an eyebrow; Tanner had gone to Europe after high school and stayed on. "Whatever it is, Josy must have told me at some point."

"He got married last month," Jayden explained, still with that strange smile.

"Oh.", Erin made surprised. She hadn't expected that.

"It got me thinking, you know," Jayden went on and put his hands in his pockets. "I'm twenty-seven now and ever since I finished university, my head's been in a whirl. I needed to do something else besides juggling numbers."

"Sounds familiar..." Erin murmured softly and let her eyes wander over the sprawling garden, not sure where this conversation was heading to.

"I mean, if I spend all day at the office, I'm unlikely to find a suitable woman falling at my feet."

"Probably not, no." She agreed with him and then gently asked: "Do you feel lonely?"

"A little," he hesitantly admitted. "Sometimes." He took a few steps away from the house and stared at the garden. "Sometimes I feel like we have to put everything in the twenties these days. Studying, marriage, kids, career..."

"That's impossible, Jayden. Especially for a woman," she said, mimicking his gesture with her hands in her pockets.

"Do you really want to go through with this job?" he asked over the shoulder and she shrugged.

"Why not?"

"But do you bring children into the world just because it's the right thing to do, and then leave them with a full-time nanny?"

"Of course not. Do you honestly think I want a man who works as hard as I do?"

That seemed to surprise him a little, and he blinked a moment before he said: "So... do you want a _stay-at-home dad_?" She didn't like the way he highlighted the phrase.

"I didn't say that," she gave back and couldn't help but get a little defensive. "But I'm not gonna just give up everything I worked so hard for."

"But you want your husband to?" he went on.

"I didn't say that." Now she rolled her eyes. "But who says I'm gonna get a workaholic? Maybe he's a shoe salesman."

Jayden snorted in amusement. "What _if_ he is a workaholic?"

"Then the two of us don't have time to build a proper relationship. So it's not gonna work." she said simply and shrugged again. What was Jayden getting at?

Again he was silent for a moment and then asked: "Do _you_ feel lonely sometimes?"

"Not really."

The way his face twitched, it obviously wasn't what he wanted to hear, and it slowly dawned on her.

"Look, Jayden, I don't know what-"

"Do we have dinner sometime?"

She blinked at him without a word.

"I'm just saying." A cautious smile, a slight shrug... He almost seemed shy, but then again, they hadn't seen each other much in the last few years, and when they did, it was usually on the fringe of business events.

Really surprised, she stroked a strand behind her ear and finally shrugged herself while she put on a cautious smile. "Just like that... Okay, why not..." _Jayden_ was a workaholic and she didn't think this had a chance in hell, but hey... if a friend's wedding could make him think, he probably wasn't beyond hope. Worst-case scenario, it ended up with a shared night or two, but Erin didn't care much about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Aiden sat on his rumpled sofa bed, his jacket over the back of the couch and his tie half loosened, but otherwise dressed the same way as he was at the funeral many hours ago. He had been crying a lot the last few days, but now his eyes were dry and reddened for other reasons; it was almost midnight and he was still trying to understand what exactly these damn papers were that the notary had given him.

_"Look at this mess before we all have to talk about it."_ Mr. Morris had said, patting him on the back sympathetically. But that didn't help him much, because he didn't know enough about this stuff.

Lucas and his brother Kyle had made some kind of contract that was supposed to save Lucas from private bankruptcy without touching his shares in the garage and thus endangering the business. That's how far Aiden got when he blocked out all the details.   
The strange agreement between the brothers ended at the turn of the year. Aiden had understood that too.   
But what started slowly to dawn on him and then lay like a stone in his stomach was the fact that thanks to this agreement, Lucas officially had absolutely nothing, owned nothing - and Aiden didn't inherit one damned dime.   
  
Lucas had turned around after the conversation in the office about pizza and promises and had simply fallen over in the office door. He had died on the way to the hospital, not yet sixty years old. A blood clot in his brain. Aiden was shocked and clung to the fact that their last words had been loving and not a fight.

And now he sat there and tried to understand what the sudden death of his father meant for him. The garage belonged to Kyle now- except for the ten percent that Aiden had inherited from his grandfather- and Kyle had always some very strange ideas. Aiden was nothing more than an employee now and would have to watch his uncle implement his often idiotic ideas and ruin the garage.

He laid the papers on the small table in front of him and rubbed his face. Did he have any other choice but to accept this fact? Probably not.

Slowly he took off his tie and threw it over his jacket, then took off his shoes and flinched with a soft scream when suddenly dark blue leather shoes appeared in his field of vision. The shoes belonged to a tall man in a dark-blue suit, with a bright white shirt and blazing red tie; the dark hair and dark eyes gave him a gloomy appearance, although he smiled.

"Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want?", Aiden asked surprised and because he felt a little threatened, he stood up. He was a tall guy himself, with broad shoulders and some muscles he was proud of, but which he would never use in this manner. Still, it gave him a certain appearance.

"I'm here to make you an offer," the man said friendly and tilted his head a little.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Aiden asked again, this time less surprised but angry.

"I am Lucifer."

"Lucifer. _Lucifer_ , like the devil?" Aiden raised an eyebrow, fearing he was facing a madman.

"Oh, no. Satan is someone else. I am Lucifer Morningstar, fallen angel, advocate of lost souls." The man smiled a little wider and underlined his words with a delicate gesture. "And because you are a lost soul, I'm here to offer you assistance in this matter." He pointed to the papers on the small coffee table and Aiden frowned.

"You sound like a psycho."

"Well, what can I say? Your father screwed up, your uncle screwed up... and you're gonna pay for it. Listen, Aiden"- soothingly, the man, Lucifer, raised his hands- "just listen. Okay?"

Aiden didn't have time for a real reaction.

"Any person can sell their soul to Satan, it's their right. But parents can sell their unborn children's souls - which your father did - and these children have the right, according to Heaven's Laws, to reclaim their souls."

" _Souls_? I mean... _what_?" Aiden's expression dropped.

"Lucas sold your soul to save the garage," Lucifer said, almost thoughtfully, reaching for the documents. "He got a pretty good deal, I gotta say." The dark eyes twitched to Aiden, and he flinched again. "We should sit down," Lucifer then said earnestly, pointing to the dining table by the small kitchen corner.

"I'm not sure I really want to talk to you. Or even should," Aiden replied slowly and Lucifer sighed.

"I can also leave, but then you will remain soulless and your precious uncle will ruin the family business before your very eyes. Is that what you want?"

Aiden had no idea how much a soul made a difference or not, but the garage was his one and only, his dream, his legacy - so he set off, walked around the couch and sat down at the dinner table. Only then did Lucifer sit down, too, opposite him.

"Good. Now, once again. _Kyle_ "- Lucifer emphasized the name, "sold his soul to seal this barely legal deal with your father and make sure it happened exactly what did happen."

Aiden blinked. "What... what do you mean?" It had been a long, hard day, and he didn't understand right away.

"Part of the deal between Kyle and Satan was the death of your father."

Aiden opened his mouth. "What?"

Lucifer nodded seriously.

"But... how does it work? How is that possible? How can you just let someone die... my dad..."

"Shhh...", Lucifer made soothing and with the next breath the chaos in Aiden's head really ebbed away to a bearable level.

"Your father was going to get hit by a clot sooner or later anyway. Satan just timed it a little differently, you know? But it's those kinds of contracts that piss me off personally, and that's why I'm here, Aiden. You have a right to your soul, and you deserve justice." There was a hint of a smile on Lucifer's face and Aiden shook his head.

"I still don't understand..." He rubbed his temple. "This is totally crazy. How is that possible?"

"Believe me or don't believe me." Lucifer shrugged and put his fingertips on the contract between Lucas and Kyle. "But my offer is unbeatable. And I won't come back a second time."

Aiden remained silent for a moment, wondering if he was hallucinating or dreaming. But he felt awake and clear, he felt the table and the chair, the floor under his feet and saw the sparkle in the dark eyes.

"What is this offer?" he finally asked quietly, and Lucifer smiled.

"My offer: I will escort you to Mr. Morris and take legal action over this questionable piece of paper. If you have fulfilled your part by the stroke of midnight on the thirty-first of December, I will declare the contract between the brothers null and void, and you will get what is due to you. Plus your soul."

Doubtfully, Aiden narrowed his brows. Sounded too good to be true. "And what must I do in return?"

"Fulfill tasks."

"Task? What kind of tasks?" Instantly, he had terrible things on his mind.

Lucifer, however, made an indefinite gesture. "Little things, nothing dangerous. Like _'speak of yourself in the third person for one day'_." He laughed softly. "Really, harmless stuff."

Still skeptical, Aiden sat back. "So what's the catch?"

"The catch?" Lucifer almost seemed offended. "You have six days, six hours, and six minutes for each little task. Failure to complete a task will void our deal." His eyebrows moved up. "So, Aiden... what do you say?"

For now, Aiden said nothing. Small, harmless tasks in exchange for justice, his heritage, his soul? "I still believe this cannot be. You're losing out with this."

Now Lucifer laughed so heartily and loudly that for a moment Aiden thought worriedly of his sleeping neighbors.

"No, Aiden... Your uncle played a dirty game and I am still angel enough to find this absolutely contemptible," Lucifer then said quietly and dangerously serious. "Point one... Point two: I must offer you a deal, for you are a lost soul and therefore by law my client. Point three: My offers are personalized and always achievable."

Aiden swallowed hard and licked his suddenly dry lips. It was worth a try. Wasn't it? "I have nothing to lose in this?" he tried to make sure, and Lucifer shook his head.

"No more than you've already lost." It sounded strangely grim and the dark eyes seemed to grow darker.

Again Aiden kept silent for a moment, trying to think clearly, but all he saw was Kyle greedily sacrificing his own brother. He actually liked his uncle very much, but this... left him speechless. He raised his eyes and looked at Lucifer, who smiled softly.

"Yes?"

"Deal." That's all Aiden could bring out, tears of rage and grief burning in his eyes, his throat tightening.

Lucifer held out his hand and he reached for it. "Deal."

And then he cried out as those long, slender fingers seemed to burn into his skin. It was still burning when Lucifer, a blink later, just vanished into thin air. Instead, he found a **666** in the palm of his hand, jet black.

"Oh, my God," he whispered in horror, and Lucifer's voice replied, soft as a breeze:

_"The numbers are for your eyes only and represent the countdown to your tasks. Here comes the first one."_

Aiden's phone made a completely unfamiliar whistle, and he got up so quickly that he had to stop the chair from tipping over. When he fished his phone off the sofa bed, he had a new message from **L** :

"Buy a pack of cigarettes."

"What?", Aiden was stunned. That was... banal.

And then a hysterical giggle slipped out of his mouth. If all the tasks were like that, it was a piece of cake.


	4. Chapter 4

"Good evening, Miss Callahan," Mrs. Stevenson, secretary to Erin's mother Joanna, said as friendly as ever. Though it was already quite late, she was still sitting in the outer office typing on her computer.

"Good evening," Erin returned the greeting and looked to the office door when she heard the soft hum of a deep male voice.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Sterling is here. Just got in, but it shouldn't take long." Mrs. Stevenson gave Erin an encouraging smile.

Erin sighed anyway. If Joanna said it wouldn't be long, you could expect a nice wait.

"I don't know if it's worth waiting," she said, and Mrs. Stevenson shrugged. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the latest news just as the secretary stood up.

"Well, have a nice evening."

"You too, Mrs. Stevenson." Erin smiled at the secretary and got a smile back in reply, which now looked a little tired in the official closing time.

The secretary cleared out her desk in a few easy moves, pressed a few buttons, picked up her bag and disappeared; she could leave her boss' daughter alone in the outer room with a clear conscience.

The clatter of heels faded away, the murmur of voices from the office became louder. Martin Sterling seemed to have a lot to say and Erin wondered what it was all about. Her own family made their money in medical technology, the Sterlings were at home in transportation.

She sat in a visitor's chair for a long minute, then got up and leaned over the desk to the voice console. Eavesdropping on her mother was not exactly cricket, but there were some rumors about the Sterlings' business that Erin didn't like. So she pushed the button.

"...worries me," Martin just said with a somber undertone.

"Nonsense," Joanna gave back briskly. "A cancelled date is not the end of the world. The two of them are too much on the same wavelength."

"Joanna," Martin replied pleadingly, "I just explained it. They are _not_. She will not give in."

"Then let Jayden do it." Joanna sounded cool and Erin frowned irritated. What was that about?

"Why would Jayden back down?"

"Because he knows what it's about, Martin, don't be stupid. He can try to bend her when the papers are signed, but not before. We _both_ need the African project and it was _your_ fucking idea!"

"Erin is not stupid either, Joanna! She knows Jayden! Do you really think she's buying this?"

Joanna laughed softly. It was the cold, emotionless laugh the villains in bad movies had, and Erin got goose bumps. "She's like most young women, only with a very tough exterior. She needs affection and romance and believe me, her shell will crack the minute she becomes a mother."

"If you say so," Martin muttered skeptically, but Joanna's answer Erin couldn't hear anymore because she had let go of the button.   
Had Joanna and Martin actually said what Erin thought she heard? Had their parents sent him after her? And if so, why?

The first date was nice, with harmless, shallow conversation a little here, a little there. Jayden was quite the gentleman and on the surface there was nothing to stop her from going on a second date. However, she could not shake the feeling that he was not entirely happy with some of her answers and opinions. That and the really shitty day yesterday had made her cancel the second date.

Joanna's cold words hurt and a little out of line Erin stumbled back to the visitors' chairs, grabbed her bag and left.

  
  


She couldn't have said how she had arrived home, but she found herself outside her apartment door with the key in her hand. Her hands trembled when she unlocked the door, and she had to hold on to the small shoe closet right next to the door so as not to tip out of her pumps. Shoes, keys, bag, blazer- everything ended up carelessly somewhere on the furniture in the corridor. And then she paused. There was a light in the kitchen.

"H-hello?" She definitely hadn't turned on a light at breakfast, because it was way too bright in the morning. She slowly walked towards the kitchen door and flinched when she saw a man sitting at the kitchen table. Dark blue suit, white shirt, red tie. Clean-shaven. Dark hair just long enough to reveal curls.

"Oh. Forgive me, Erin. I didn't hear you right away." He lifted his eyes from his book and a choked sound escaped her as the book simply vanished into thin air. He stood up and smiled at her.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my apartment?" she asked tense and took a step back. In her bag was a can of pepper spray...

"I am Lucifer," he replied, and his dark eyes glittered almost amused.

"Lucifer?" she asked confused. "As in the TV show?"

"Oh, no." Actually amused, he shook his head. "So basically, yes. I am Lucifer Morningstar, the fallen angel. But I don't own... what was that? A nightclub? No, I'm a lawyer. The advocate of lost souls." He bowed his head in greeting and she snorted.

"Sure. Who are you and _what are you doing here_?"

He sighed. "How come nobody ever believes me right off the bat?" In a helpless gesture, he raised his hands. "I'm here to make you an offer, Erin," he said in earnest. "It's about what you heard earlier from your mother and Martin Sterling."

"What?" she made stunned. The man confused her deeply.

"Would you like to sit down? I can make you some coffee if you like." He vaguely pointed to the coffee machine behind him, but she shook her head.

"How do I know you're not a psychopath?" she asked and he laughed softly.

"Oh, most really successful people have psychopathic tendencies. Selfishness, narcissism, lack of empathy..." He indicated a shrug. "You're 20% psycho, Erin, so what?"

Her mouth opened and he made a gesture inviting her to the table.

"Shall we sit down?"

Wordlessly, she responded to the request and swallowed hard; her slightly trembling hands she folded on the table.

"I'd rather start at the beginning, yes?" An almost warm smile appeared on his face.

"I'm asking for it." She nodded slightly.

"Any person can sell his or her soul to Satan, if that's what he or she wants, everyone has the right to do so. But parents can sell the souls of their unborn children- and your mother did this to you."

"Souls...?" Erin raised an eyebrow. The guy who called himself Lucifer must be really crazy.

He nodded. "You're a lost soul, and by Heaven's Laws, you have the right to reclaim your soul."

"Wait... my mum sold my soul. To Satan. Who is he, if not you?" She tilted her head a little bit.

"Satan and Lucifer are not the same person, even though we usually appear as a unit," Lucifer said objectively. "Satan is really what many call the Lord of Hell, the Devil. I am a fallen angel. These two stories have always been mixed together and there are not a few who tell of Satanel, the archangel who betrayed his brothers and was therefore cast out. _'El'_ means God and all other archangels carry it in their name: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel... Satan is the Lord of Hell. I, Lucifer, am an advocate for lost souls, and you are my client by right."

She blinked at him, a little confused. "...sure..."

"Like I said. Your mother sold the souls of her unborn children and now I'm here to make you an offer." He smiled at her again and she shook her head.

"If there really are souls... why would she do that?"

"The question is a little naive, my dear." He critically raised an eyebrow. "Power, success, money ... But it's a fact that Martin Sterling recently sold his own soul for a deal that you and Jayden will end up paying for."

"That African project they mentioned?"

Lucifer nodded. "I don't want to go into detail about that now, the matter is dirty enough even without Satan's interference. However, documents have come out which prove that you and Jayden are willing to make personal sacrifices for the success of the family and the business. Neither of you has ever really signed those documents, and I think you are intelligent and strong enough to never do anything like that, but the documents are real." A little pause arose and he put his fingertips together, which made him appear a little creepy, almost threatening. "However you twist or turn it, but in the end you're forced to get married. For the sake of the family business."

"That's legally impossible," she objected indignantly, and he smiled maliciously. "Even the written assurance to do everything for the family is ridiculous."

"Maybe, but in this _nice_ package there are so many paragraphs and clauses that the average lawyer gets sick." The smile widened and Erin's stomach started to hurt.

"I don't believe anyone can make me get married," she said quietly. She didn't sound very convincing, she noted, and Lucifer's unwavering calm worried her.

"Jayden is not a lost soul like you, so you are responsible. For both of you. If the deal is off, both companies lose a lot of money, but you're free. If the deal goes through, you are legally bound together and the project can still fail."

"Show me the documents," she asked, a little shaken, and out of nowhere he grabbed a laptop, which he opened and almost immediately turned to her.

"Here you go."

She bent over a little and started reading.

What it said was madness and certainly didn't belong in the 21st century.   
After a few paragraphs, she scrolled to the end of the document and shook her head in stunned silence. She had certainly not signed such crap, but on any other document she would have sworn that the signature was authentic.

"Ugly, isn't it?"

At Lucifer's soft words she looked up. "I don't know what to say..."

He nodded thoughtfully and the laptop disappeared. "Well, that's why I'm here. With my help, you can get out of this."

She frowned suspiciously. "Lawyers are paid. But I doubt it's money you want - if you are who you say you are."

"It's my duty to make you an offer, Erin. As I said before, you have a right to reclaim your soul."

"What does one have to do with the other?" She raised an eyebrow and sat back. She still had the creeps from that guy.

In response, he sighed deeply and leaned back as well. "Look, that's the way it goes. I make you an offer, you agree, you do your share, I do mine. Your soul is the bonus."

"That sounds too good to be true," she repeated her doubts, and he rolled his eyes.

"Believe me or don't believe me. You have a choice. But if you say _no_ now, I won't come back."

She swallowed and licked her lips, tasting the remains of her lipstick that had been redrawn so many times. "What exactly... what exactly am I supposed to do?" she hesitantly asked. The guy was creepy as fuck.

"Be in a relationship" was the simple answer.

"Excuse me?" Her eyebrows moved up.

"I require you to have a relationship. Acknowledged by the public." Lucifer raised his chin a little. "You have six days, six hours, and six minutes to find a boyfriend. Keep him until midnight on the thirty-first of December, and the deal between your mother and Martin Sterling is history. If the relationship breaks up before then, our deal ends."

She looked at him in amazement. "What do you mean with _'acknowledged by the public'_?"

"Well, the world needs to see that you're a couple."

"But does that mean we _really_ have to be a couple?" she asked cautiously and saw a satisfied smile appear on his lips.

"The world must see and acknowledge you as a couple," he repeated slowly. "But whether you are a couple in _private_ doesn't interest me."

"A fake relationship," she said, and he bowed his head barely noticeably. "Until New Year's Eve. That's seven months."

"Seven months of fake relationship versus decades of arranged marriage... The decision shouldn't be difficult," Lucifer remarked amused, examining his fingernails.

"Why a fake relationship?" she asked curiously and he raised an eyebrow. "Why should that be part of the deal?"

"My offers are personalized, my dear. And they are always doable." He paused for a moment, then tilted his head and smiled. "You have to work for success, Erin. You have to sacrifice things to succeed. The road to success is long and rocky. But no one ever said there were no viewpoints or rest areas along the way, no little treasures to discover. If you don't care about your personal life, say _no_." He tilted his head to the other side. "Don't you care?"

"I care enough to not marry Jayden," she replied promptly and he laughed softly.

"Deal?" He held out his hand to her.

Seven months of a fake relationship. Six days to find a fake boyfriend. It was doable. Maybe she was crazy, maybe she just imagined this guy. Maybe there was a psychopath sitting in her kitchen. And yet she grabbed his hand.

"Deal." Her hand started to burn, and with a scream, she pulled it back. A jet-black **666** was in the palm of her hand. "Holy shit!"

_"Your countdown. Don't worry, no one can see it but you,"_ Lucifer whispered as if from afar and when she looked up he was gone.

"Oh, God," she murmured and moved her hand. The pain already faded and she shook her head in a dazed way. It was weird. Crazy.

With dry mouth she got up and got a glass of water. She drank a second one right afterwards and then took a deep breath before looking at her hand again.   
  
**662**   
  
Slowly she put the glass down and then went into the corridor to look for her phone in her bag.

Two missed calls from her mother, one from Jayden, three from Josy, one from Sarah. None of them were important now.

She opened the camera and took a photo of her hand; when she opened the picture, her palm was empty. She laughed quietly and looked at her palm again.   
  
**6559**

"All right," she muttered. "Fake relationship. A seven-month project." She looked over at her desk and thoughtfully licked the last bit of lipstick off her lips.

**6557**

"You've had worse time pressure," she remarked objectively to herself and marched over to the desk.


	5. Chapter 5

Erin leaned back and rubbed her eyes, then looked at her hand.

**6317**

She had worked through her contact lists of all the social networks and created an unpleasantly short list - it contained exactly three names - with possible candidates. The problem was, among other things, that she had often enough in recent years asked some friend or acquaintance to accompany her to some event and a second time didn't work out. She couldn't fool her friends with this - Josy had a remarkably detailed memory in this respect - nor her mother. And that's what mattered.

The scribbled names seemed to laugh at her and she expelled the air; it almost became a growl.

_Philip_ : he would play along, for sure, but to his rules- and she was not sure if she really wanted to

_Joshua_ : he would make conditions, but would submit; however, it was doubtful whether he would go along with it for such a _long_ time

_Sam_ : he would probably play along with enthusiasm and take the whole thing a little _too_ seriously; he was a wonderful friend and she was reluctant to endanger this friendship

Sighing, she pushed the note away and rubbed her temple. This couldn't be all.

**6314**

Facebook reported a new notification and she checked on it. Mike had posted a new photo from Singapore.   
Mike. She chewed on her lower lip and turned off the computer screen. Mike was her ripcord, her absolute emergency plan. And unless her countdown fell below the 24-hour mark, she wouldn't contact him, not voluntarily.

_"I'll see you online everywhere! Why don't you call back?"_ Josy wanted to know with a lot of emotional emojis and Erin sighed. All she wanted to do was switch off the phone and go to sleep, make full use of the two days of home office she had scheduled and search for a solution.

_"I'II call you later. Good night,"_ she wrote back and promptly received several offended looking emojis, which she deliberately ignored. And then she scrolled through her WhatsApp chats on impulse; maybe she stumbled across some business contact that could be upgraded.

_Zachary Dalton_ , for example. But something rang a bell with the name and she stared at his profile picture for a moment before she remembered: the guy had recently married scandalously in Las Vegas.

She scrolled on and muttered "No. No. Also no." until she got stuck with _Aiden Matthews_. They had last had a very short and very formal conversation in February, because Ladybug's problem turned out to be more serious than expected.

Looking at his profile picture, she raised an eyebrow. He was leaning against a car and seemed to be looking at something that was on the roof of it- papers probably- but what surprised her most was the hair. They fell finger-long into his forehead and she couldn't remember ever having seen him like that in the two years she already knew him; his hair had always been extremely short. It looked good. In general he was a good-looking guy, she thought, and chewed on her lip for a moment.

**6234**

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd keep searching.

~

There weren't many things Aiden hated about his job, but if there was one, it was counter duty. Most of the time you just sat around staring at a screen and worst of all: you had to talk to people. With customers, to be precise, and he just couldn't do that well. Uncle Kyle was a master in talking to customers, so was Frank, and Ronny could also be put in the front without danger. But Aiden?

With a sigh, Aiden looked at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time in that hour.

_8:05 am._ They had started one hour ago and it took forever until the lunch break.

Kyle's little green VW turned into the yard and Aiden sighed again, this time angrily. When Kyle was on office duty, he wasn't real precise with the hours.   
But then he frowned when a fire-red car, very familiar to him, turned onto the grounds and steered into one of the three parking lots directly in front of the large glass front. Irritated, he looked at the terminal screen.

_Thursday, 8:11 am_. Miss Callahan's check-up appointment was Tuesday next week.

Miss Callahan got out of the car, unfamiliar in jeans and T-shirt and with one of those tiny purses in her hand. Her bright blue sneakers squeaked on the floor and Aiden swallowed before he said politely:

"Good morning, Miss Callahan." Restrained politeness he was capable of. If he didn't have to concentrate, at least.

"Hello, Aiden," she said quietly and with a cautious smile before she sat down after a short hesitation.

"How can I help you?" Customer routine, Aiden, customer routine.

"l..." She paused and stroked a strand that had come loose from her braid back behind her ear. "I heard about your father," she said in all seriousness. "I am truly, truly sorry. He was a really nice guy..."

"Thank you," Aiden said surprised and cleared his throat embarrassed.

"Oh, and I'm supposed to send you my grandpa's greetings," she added with a wry smile. Ladybug had first belonged to her grandfather and Aiden had learned his trade on the red runabout. Mr. Callahan and his own grandfather had been something like friends during his lifetime.

"Thank you," he said again and started to knead his fingertips. A gesture of embarrassed nervousness; it had caught him a bit off guard, although he should have expected it.

Now she was the one clearing her throat. "Well..."

"Is there a problem with Ladybug?" he blurted out, and her eyes got big.

"What? No. No, it's not that..." She shook her head and put her mini purse on the counter with her hands firmly pressed on it. On her right forefinger she wore a narrow ring, braided from a golden, a silver and a copper thread. He had never seen this ring on her before and he wondered for a moment why she wore it on her forefinger, but by then she was already taking a breath.

"I have a personal problem and I'd like to ask for your help."

Stunned, he looked at her. "A personal problem?"

She nodded and smiled wryly. "Yes. You know, in the society I move in, appearances are extremely important. It is not only about cold business meetings, facts and figures, but also about relationships, family support, contacts. The things which bring together business and pleasure."

Uncertain, he nodded.

"As I said, appearances. A polished coat of perfection, a facade behind which it is often not half as perfect as it seems. Success at all levels." She almost sounded as if she was giving a lecture and Aiden frowned irritated.

"I'm not sure I know what you're getting at."

Again this crooked smile that seemed a little embarrassed. "My facade is not perfect, and for the many events coming up in the next few months, it should be."

"You seem pretty perfect to me." The words were out faster than his brain could stop him, and he blushed when she looked at him flattered.

"Thanks, but I'm really not." She stroked back the rebellious strand of hair, looked at the tabletop for a moment and when she raised her gaze again it was so intense that Aiden instinctively retreated.

"I need someone to accompany me to these events over the next few months," she said seriously. "A boyfriend. And since I have neither the time nor the nerve for a real relationship, I need a fake boyfriend." Absolutely factual.

"And... um..."

"Would you be willing to take care of that?" She looked at him questioningly.

"Excuse me?" Stunned, he stared back.

"Would you have a fake relationship with me for the next few months?" she reformulated her question. 

"Why me?" he wanted to know, it almost sounded like a panicky protest.

"Oh. Well... you're a good-looking guy, so no one will doubt that my eye was actually on you. You seem exceedingly polite and it is obvious at a distance of ten kilometers that you are shy, so no one will take any real offence and smile at the most when I hurry to your rescue." That too was a matter-of-fact statement, albeit with a fine smile underlining it. "I consider you to be pretty honest, and that's probably a minor point of criticism- it has to be authentic, you know- but then again, you're the only candidate on my list."

Kyle had once told Aiden to stay away from women who said they were making lists for whatever. Since Lucas had only nodded to it, Aiden had actually saved the remark.

Absolutely taken by surprise, he licked his lips, cleared his throat and then slowly asked: "So you want me to accompany you to events...?"

She nodded. "Right. Business events, friends, family... it's all coming this summer." Her eyebrows twitched with little enthusiasm. "Of course I'll pay all your expenses, don't worry. Because I hardly think I can assume that you have ten different suits in your closet." Her tone was matter-of-fact enough not to be hurtful or judgmental, but also somehow disinterested.

"One," he answered the unspoken question. "Exactly one."

She nodded again. "Relationship-related elements will be kept to a minimum, of course."

"What does that mean?" he asked in a hurry in between, before she could continue.

"Oh. Well... like holding hands and stuff." The rebellious streak had already moved forward again. "The highest of sentiments is probably the occasional accentuating kiss on the mouth." She tilted her head a little, which caused the strand of hair to slip again, and added: "Of course we'll have to work out a certain framework plot, but that shouldn't be difficult. This"- she made a brief gesture- "already provides a wonderful starting point."

He made a consenting sound, he was not capable of a verbal answer.

"For authenticity, of course, we also have to post pictures and the like together. I have noticed that you are not represented on any social network."

Silently he shook his head.

"Hmm. Maybe a little suboptimal." A minimal frown flitted across her face. "Oh, and of course, it's not one-sided. I'll introduce myself to your family and friends the same way."

He swallowed. Did he really want his mum to meet the woman he had told her about, but who was just his _fake_ girlfriend? How could he credibly lie to his own mother that he was happy?

"For how long?" he finally dared to ask when she looked at him expectantly.

"Oh... well..." Now she seemed unsettled. "The last really important event is in October, but... um... it probably wouldn't be very wise to break up the very next morning."

Slowly he nodded. It was not even nine o'clock in the morning and the day had already gone completely crazy.

"Could you do that?" she asked quietly. "Would you do it?" He almost expected a kind of advertising jingle afterwards, a la _'new perspectives, new acquaintances, new possibilities'_ , but she just waited.

"May I... may I think about it?" he asked softly and she nodded.

"Sure. Of course." Then suddenly she turned pale. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"What? No, I-"

"If you want to grieve properly, then-"

"No, everything's fine," he assured her and nodded to his words. "I'd just like to think about it calmly. I'm..." he hesitated, "I'm not really big on social life and lots of people..."

With a fine smile she nodded. "Sure. Let me know when you decide." She rose. "Thank you."

Before he could say anything, she turned around and left.

Stunned, he looked after her and then rubbed his eyes because he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"I could really use your advice right now, Dad," he murmured into the silence as Ladybug drove off the yard outside.


	6. Chapter 6

Erin was relatively successful in distracting herself with work from the pressing problem. She had no idea how much time she should give Aiden to answer and as the afternoon progressed she began to wonder if she should have approached the matter differently. He was such a shy guy- maybe she scared him off?

Nevertheless, she was already making a list of things to ask because a couple usually knew these things about each other.

The doorbell ripped her out of her thoughts. The house she lived in had a camera on the intercom and so she saw Josy standing down there, displaying a sour expression. Without a comment, she opened the door.

"What exactly is your problem?", Josy wanted to know instead of a greeting and Erin sighed as she closed the door behind her friend.

"Josy... why are you so upset?"

"I called you last night because I wanted to talk about Jayden, and you've been ignoring me ever since!" Josy looked really pissed, but Erin wasn't sure how much of it was drama and how much was real.

"There's nothing to say about Jayden. It was a friendly meeting, nothing more," she said, making an inviting gesture. "Coffee?"

"Always." Josy nodded and followed her into the kitchen where she made coffee for both of them.

"Honestly, what about Jayden?" Josy asked for a break and stirred in her cup.

"Nothing." Erin shrugged. "We had a nice chat." And knowing that she couldn't convince her best friend by presenting her a new boyfriend from now to now, she added: "I have something else going on." And that got Josy's attention immediately.

"What? Since when? With who? Why don't you tell me?" Her eyes had grown wide and the coffee seemed forgotten.

Well, what should Erin say now? "Things aren't always easy..."

"I know that, sweetie, but that's what I'm here for." Josy smiled, but in the heartfelt way that many never got to see. Involuntarily, Erin smiled back and rubbed the palm of her hand in which the countdown was relentlessly running. Should she perhaps just write to Aiden in the evening?

"So... would you like to tell me about it?" Josy wanted to know and Erin hid behind her coffee cup for a moment. What if she was talking about Aiden and he said _no_? What if she had to resort to her back-up plan with Mike? In some ways, that would be a disaster.

"I don't have as much time as I'd like. As one should wish for a relationship," she finally said with a sigh. "I mean..."

"Is it already a relationship or is it still an extended dating phase?" Josy went into it and sipped coffee with curiously raised eyebrows.

"Whew..." Erin tried to stall for time and flinched when her phone buzzed. Hurriedly she got up and ignored Josy's frown, grabbed the phone from her desk and for a second she allowed herself an idiotic grin.

Aiden Matthews: _"I'll do it."_

"So...?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." She returned to the kitchen and tried to express her relief with a cautious smile at most.

Josy raised an eyebrow again. "Extended dating season about to keel over?"

"His dad just died and... well..."

"Oh."

Erin nodded and tapped the phone. "He wants to talk."

Josy took the hint and nodded. "Okay." In a few sips, she emptied her coffee. "I want to know everything afterwards! No matter how negative it may be."

"Of course." Erin nodded and couldn't wait for Josy to leave.

"What's his name, anyway?"

"Aiden."

"Beautiful..."

~

In the end, Aiden was glad that he had only been on counter duty, because on a quiet day like this he had plenty of time to think.

Even in the supermarket his thoughts circled around nothing else and when he put the bags into the trunk he suddenly wondered to what extent a fake relationship would have an influence on such things. Would they even see each other outside of these events? Maybe for fake dates, somewhere visible in the city?

Since his dad couldn't give him any advice anymore - although he was sure about what Lucas would have said - he had tried to call his best friend Mike, but he couldn't reach him and he didn't answer the written message.

A hand on the car door Aiden hesitated. Next to the supermarket was a small tobacco shop. He locked the car and walked across the parking lot. In the small shop an older woman was sitting and playing at a tablet; she hardly looked up when Aiden stepped to the counter.

"What'll it be?" she asked, bored. It was a damn good question, because Aiden didn't know anything about cigarettes. Some of his colleagues smoked, but other than that...?

He said the first thing that caught his eye and got a nod in response. On a whim, he took a lighter the color of Miss Callahan's sneakers from a small display and put it on the counter.

The cash register beeped and the woman called bored a price, he paid and left. Surprisingly simple.

His palm became warm and when he looked at it, the numbers had disappeared. In anticipation of a new task, he looked at his phone, but there was no new message.

Sitting in the car, he typed to **L** : _"What exactly is going to happen now?"_

" _New tasks don't always come right away,"_ was the prompt reply. _"But since you are pushing..."_

"Smoke a cigarette."

Aiden sighed. He should have expected that. "Marvelous..."

The groceries were stowed away, the cigarette pack and lighter were on the floor dresser, he had eaten a little something - and now he stared at the black display of his phone as if he could evoke an answer from whoever with it. Which was actually pointless, because he could pretty well imagine what he would hear.

She had said she didn't have time for a real relationship, so she would probably have politely declined if he had asked for a date. But this way he would still spend time with her and get to know her- and got an indirect chance.

He could literally hear Lucas- or optionally Mike- and finally he opened WhatsApp and stared at her profile picture. A pretty blonde young woman with a light blue blouse and a cheerful smile on her face- a picture suitable for both private and business contacts.

Slowly he breathed deeply in and out.

_"I'll do it."_

Good God, he'd be embarrassed. He knew nothing about high society, business or politics. He didn't know what was in or out, and some things he only knew or overheard because Mike was from those circles.

How was it possible that he was the only one on her list? A tactical statement maybe?

Suddenly the phone vibrated and he flinched, quite irritated that it was a WhatsApp call and not a normal one.

"Hi..." he said, a little stupidly.

"Hello, Aiden," she said briskly. "Do you have time for a long phone call? Are you at home?"

"Yes and yes..." He was nervous and flinched again when the phone vibrated. Video call. He swallowed and answered.

"Hi." She smiled. There was just a white wall behind her.

"Hi." He at least _tried_ to smile.

"Thank you for wanting to help me. This is very important to me and..." She paused and licked her lips, her eyebrows twitched. "Okay," she started again. "Every project begins with a plan."

"Project?" he asked cautiously, already seeing his suspicions confirmed that this would be an absolutely cold business relationship.

"Oh, well... saying we have a project together sounds better than fake relationship, don't you think?" She tilted her head a little bit and he nodded.

"Yeah... in comparison."

"Very good. Do you have a pen and paper?" Again with the business tone.

"Just a minute." He got up from the sofa bed and went over to his desk, placed the phone so she could still see him, and sat down before taking a notepad and pen from a drawer. "Okay."

"Okay." She brushed a strand behind her ear and nodded. "Let's start with the basics. Today is Thursday, the twenty-eighth of May. I was thinking we could officially start the relationship today and have the dating phase start in February, you know, when Ladybug had that problem."

He nodded and scribbled 28/05 on the pad, circled the date and raised an eyebrow. "Okay. But why would the car be the reason for a date?"

Very obviously she had already thought about it, because the answer came immediately: "I was thinking about getting a new car and wanted your detailed advice on this, so I invited you for a conversation-coffee after work." And then she rattled off a shy love story that seemed a little cheesy to Aiden, but at the same time pretty realistic. She was very skillfully putting together what little she knew about him - she had to be quite the analytical mind.

"However," she then said, seeming a little embarrassed, "I really just know your name. That's not helpful."

He had a faint suspicion that she had already compiled a catalogue of questions, so he said: "What do you think you need to know?"

She _had_ a catalogue.

For almost twenty minutes she pestered him with questions whose purpose was sometimes not quite clear to him, but which actually included such banal things as birthday and favorite food. Only his answer _vanilla_ to the question about his favorite ice cream she commented with a slightly surprised: "So simple?"

"Yes, why not?"

"Well... it's a little... boring?" She almost seemed disappointed.

"Good vanilla ice cream is hard to find." Was he seriously talking about vanilla ice cream? Oh, Lord. "What's _your_ favorite ice cream?" he asked back and she smiled wryly.

"Cinnamon. But good cinnamon ice cream is hard to find and I haven't found a good recipe yet. But I'll take sweet orange or tonka bean."

He had no idea what tonka beans were, but: "You make your own ice cream?" Surprised, he raised his brows and she nodded; he hurriedly scribbled the new information on his pad.

"Yes, I like cooking too, but that wasn't the point. What would your perfect ice cream look like?"

"Vanilla," he said slowly, "is perfectly sufficient." He felt a little cornered.

"Come on..."

He sighed. "Vanilla, candied macadamia nuts, caramel sauce, cookie dough."

"Ah. Sounds good. I think I'll try that..." she murmured and made a note.

More questions followed until eventually she leaned back and- tapping her cheek with her pen - mumbled to herself. Most of it he understood only fragmentarily, but that didn't matter. On the one hand he found it remarkable what she had thought of, on the other hand he found it almost eerie.

"...height, dress size, shoe size..."

"Any other body parts?" He actually asked the question rather rhetorically and with a hint of sarcasm and as engrossed as she was in her notes, he was surprised that she had heard him at all.

"No," she replied soberly. "My best friend Josy will certainly ask about it"- he hurriedly noted the name- "but it's quite enough for me to tell her that I'm perfectly satisfied. For the record, I don't need exact measurements." She looked at him and he blushed.

"I wouldn't have them at hand."

"If you want to check, please feel free."

"I'll pass." he murmured softly and she nodded, then paused.

"Do men talk about cup sizes?"

"Excuse me?" He looked at her with irritation.

"Boobs," she said, pointing at them from both sides. "Do you know anything about official sizes or... how do men calculate? Hand filling?"

"I don't know anything about _official sizes_ ," he said cautiously and she nodded.

"I thought so. I'll put it in anyway."

"Put it in where?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'll get the questionnaire in clean form and email it to you with my answers."

"Ah. Good plan."

She nodded with a satisfied smile. "I know." Once again, she lowered her eyes to her lists.

"Um... Erin?" He had never called her by her first name before and it felt strange.

"Yeah?"

"What am I supposed to call you?"

She briefly frowned. "I don't know. A classic _darling_ maybe?"

"Okay." That was alright, he could work with it.

"Good. Um... yeah." She stroked back a strand and looked to the side for a moment, maybe she had a wall calendar hanging next to her desk like he did. "Next Saturday is a pre-meeting for the September charity gala."

He nodded; of course he had heard about the gala, and after looking at the calendar he made a hasty note.

"This Saturday we should go and buy you a decent suit, so there's time for adjustments. If you come by around nine, we can have a quick coffee and discuss a few things before we go."

"Okay..." It felt strange to know that she would buy him clothes just so he could accompany her. But then again, he probably wouldn't be able to afford what was her standard. "What... what is this pre-meeting?" he asked and she sighed.

"This is for the organizers and sponsors and so on. A little small talk, a few summary speeches, a dinner. Basically it's more of a _'see and be seen'_ thing, therefore this is the first event I want you to come." She shrugged almost apologetically. "Any events on your side?" she asked curiously and he shook his head.

"Not that I know of. Well, there's nothing coming up in the next few months that I've been told about, but that doesn't mean anything."

"Okay, good. Then... I'll finish the mail." She smiled and nodded. "I'll see you Saturday."

"See you Saturday," he said slowly, and before he could blink, she hung up.

Stunned, he stared at the phone for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief.

Erin had a precise plan, she had a questionnaire, she had a background story... For her, this was probably really nothing more than a social project.

He shook his head again. He was probably crazy to get involved, but now it was perhaps a little too late and above all too embarrassing to back out.

The phone rang again, but this time it was Kyle.

"Hey, Aiden, I could use your help..."

"What's up?" Aiden wanted to know and couldn't help but frown.

"Frank just called about Saturday duty, he'd like to switch with you," Kyle said, in the background there was clinking glass.

"I can't make this one or the next," Aiden explained, leaning back in his office chair.

"Oh, why?" Kyle honestly sounded perplexed and Aiden smiled, glad Kyle didn't see it.

"My girlfriend has important plans." Girlfriend. He had one! Fake or not, the others didn't know.

"Your... you have a _girlfriend_?" That was the most incredulous thing he'd heard Kyle say in a long time.

"Yeah, I have a girlfriend."

"Wow... um... cool... yeah..." Apparently, this messed up Kyle's plans because there was no sign of joy for his nephew. "Well, I'll just call Frank and tell him..."

Aiden still hadn't digested how selfish Kyle obviously was, so he said pointedly: "I have a private life too, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, sure..." Kyle said in a hurry. "Sure. Your dad would've been thrilled that you finally got a girl..."

"Yes... he would..." The remark made him angry and he was almost looking forward to seeing Kyle's face when Lucifer showed up at Mr. Morris' office tomorrow afternoon and explained that things were not as easy as he thought.

"Okay... see you tomorrow, Aiden."

"See you in the morning..." Aiden hung up and angrily expelled the air. For a moment he chewed on his lower lip, then he stood up and went into the corridor to grab the cigarette pack. He had never smoked before, but he wouldn't let the garage be taken away from him. Not under these conditions, not by Kyle.

He looked at the numbers in his hand and gritted his teeth. The numbers were there, they were real, and Lucifer was no psychopath. Slowly he pulled a cigarette out of the pack and nodded to himself in the corridor mirror.

Small tasks and a fake relationship. How hard could that be?


	7. Chapter 7

Aiden was pleasantly punctual - he rang at nine o'clock sharp. When Erin opened the door to her apartment, he smiled a little tense.

"Come in! You can leave your shoes on. Would you like some coffee?"

He nodded silently and she waved for him to follow her, his gaze scurrying around curiously.

"The bathroom is on the right, the door behind it is a storage room, on the left is the bedroom," she said cheerfully as she went into the kitchen. The coffee machine was already on, so it took only a few simple steps to get it humming.

Aiden stood a little lost in the kitchen door, tugging at his dark blue t-shirt.

"Have a seat," she suggested and took the sugar bowl from a kitchen cupboard. He liked his coffee with a lot of milk and a lot of sugar, she had reread that earlier, so she took also milk from the fridge.

He sat down as if he was going to run away at any moment, and grabbed the coffee cup as if it were a lifeline. A tough nut to crack, or rather a particularly shy one.

Erin also made herself a coffee, and while waiting for the machine to finish, she pointed to the ice cream machine. "That there is the ice monster. When we get back this afternoon, would you like to try something?"

Surprised, he looked at her. "That's really a monster."

"Two-liter capacity. Must be worth it." She shrugged. "I have mango, vanilla, chocolate, tonka bean and pistachio in the freezer."

"Vanilla," he said and smiled wryly; the way he looked up at her, he resembled a teddy bear. "And I have no idea what tonka beans are," he confessed.

She laughed softly and took her coffee before she sat down. Spooning sugar into her black coffee, she said: "Tonka beans are a bit like vanilla and marzipan. In fact, it's not really just tonka beans either. It's more like vanilla with tonka."

"Ah. Well, I'll try that too." Over the edge of his coffee cup, he looked at her and blushed. "I think it's cool that you do this yourself," he quietly added.

"It tastes so much better without chemicals." She smiled and nodded, took a sip of coffee and nodded again. "We are going downtown. I have a few places in mind where we might find something."

He just nodded and sipped his coffee.

"Do you have any good shoes?"

"Well, I do, but..." He hesitated, then he took out his phone and showed her a picture- plain black suit shoes.

"I'll take a real look at them, but in case of emergency they're okay, I think." She took a sip of coffee. "Ties? Cuff links? Good belt?"

"No, no, and, uh... maybe?"

She raised her eyebrows. Was that guy just running around in jeans and a T-shirt? Her amazement must have been a little much, because he noticed a little offended:

"In my world, you don't need things like this. I've only worn a suit twice in my life: high school prom and my father's funeral."

"Oh. But... I mean..." She could hardly believe it. "I mean, aren't you going out at all? Not with friends, but go out for really fancy dinners with your girlfriend? Valentine's Day or birthday or something?"

Apparently she had hit a sore spot, for he blushed deeply and lowered his eyes to his cup. He licked his lips and then said with flaming red ears: "I've never had a real girlfriend before."

"Oh." That made the advice _'just pretend it's real'_ kind of hard to take. "Um... okay. Nothing bad." She brushed a strand out of her forehead and looked at him again. A good-looking guy in his late twenties with warm dark eyes and a cute smile.

"Most women want the man to make the first move," he murmured into his cup. "That's damn hard."

"Hmm." She nodded thoughtfully. "Not all women." She gave him an encouraging smile and his ears turned bright red again. "I hope it's okay for you if we kiss?"

Irritated, he looked at her.

"I mean, normal couples do that in public and especially among friends, it's expected," she said cautiously.

"I'm not _completely_ clueless," he replied a little stiff. Was he trying to tell her in a roundabout way that he was still a virgin? If so, the more delicate topics which were _always_ on the table sooner or later in said groups of friends would become really unpleasant.

"Clueless or not, do you want to practice in private first?" And because his expression was a little strange, she hurriedly added: "I don't mean to offend you, for God's sake, it's just-"

"No, it's okay! It's okay, sounds like a good idea...", he said hurriedly and nodded.

Jesus Christ, how would this work?

For a moment they were uncomfortably silent and drank their coffee, then Erin stood up and put her cup in the sink. When she turned around, Aiden looked up at her again with that intimidated teddy bear look.

"Sit straight."

Surprised, he straightened up a bit, but she moved closer to him and ran one knuckle gently over his spine from bottom to top - automatically he took a posture- then she lightly pushed his shoulders straight.

"Better. You look like you're trying to hide behind your cup, and it doesn't work very well with your stature." Tall and broad built as he was, he couldn't even hide behind her fridge. She gave him a smile and again blushing he lowered his eyes.

~

For a Saturday morning the downtown area was surprisingly empty. Or maybe it was because they were walking through the few streets where most shops either had at least one zero too many for Aiden's bank account or didn't use any price tags at all. To his relief, holding Erin's hand was not at all difficult - even though it had actually taken him the whole car ride to digest the fact that this sensitive subject had landed right on the table along with the appropriate embarrassment - and her gentle grip was pleasant. It wasn't the first time he held hands with a girl, but it was different. Different in a good way.

"Here we are." Erin pulled him into a little corner store. At the counter with the cash register sat an older lady leafing through a fashion magazine. In front of a shelf, a man in his fifties was sorting something.

"Good morning," Erin greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning," Aiden repeated quietly.

"Good morning," said the two employees. "How can I help you darlings?", added the elderly lady, rising from her chair.

"My boyfriend needs some decent suits," Erin explained. "Fully equipped with shirts, ties, and so on." _Boyfriend_ \- that was weird to hear.

"Any favorite brand?" the man wanted to know. Aiden caught a glimpse of his nametag- Jeremy.

"No." Erin shook her head.

Two minutes later, Aiden was shoved into a comfortable sized dressing room with a suit and shirt. While he was changing, Erin, Jeremy and the lady made small talk, and when he stepped outside - a little skeptical because the shirt seemed too big - all three said "no" in unison.

"Give me that jacket, sweetheart. First you need a fitting shirt. Jerry, try the Apollo collection," said the lady sternly, and Aiden handed her the jacket. He took a quick look at Erin, who had critically frowned.

"I'm sorry, love, but that looks terrible," she said seriously, leaning against a shelf.

"Where she's right ...," Jerry murmured and stepped up to a small table where he pulled a new shirt out of its wrapper and took apart the elaborate folding. "Here you go." He held it out to Aiden, who hesitated when he realized he was going to save himself a trip to the dressing room, but finally he unbuttoned the shirt.

"That looks much better," Jerry commented happily a minute later.

"Give him the slim version," demanded the lady.

"I don't think that-" Aiden began to protest but was interrupted.

"Let them handle it, love." Erin smiled almost affectionately at him and he smiled back a little tense.

When he was in the next shirt, Erin stepped behind him and stroked his shoulders.

"Perfect." Through the mirror, he looked at her and blushed. She held on to his shoulders and stood on tiptoe so he could see her smile. "I mean it. Now we just have to find the right suit, because this"- she let go of him and patted his bottom, which made him jump in surprise - "doesn't work at all."

Two hours later they left the shop with six shirts, seven ties, two belts, a ticket for the alteration tailoring for three suits and a bill of almost three thousand dollars. In between, Aiden had felt like a dress-up doll for little girls and was glad to be out in the fresh air again at last. However, he had hardly taken two steps when Erin had already addressed the next point:

"We should buy you shoes. I can get you a plain pair of cufflinks, that's not the problem." She examined him. "Is there anything else we need?"

That was the cue that gave Aiden a stomachache. After he smoked a cigarette- and vowed never to do it again- the next task was:

"Get advice from a woman about your underwear."

"Um..." he started off embarrassed and searched with his eyes for a fixed point - luckily he found an underwear store right away. "Do I have to wear matching underwear with these expensive suits?"

The question seemed to surprise Erin, but then she apparently followed his gaze because she said: "Well, why don't we just ask someone?"

She immediately pulled him by the hand to the store, and before the door closed behind him she wanted to know: "What exactly do you normally wear?"

"Um..." He let go of her and took a few hesitant steps through the shelves and displays and dolls with colorful bras and panties until he reached the men's department. "Like that." He pointed to a model.

Erin nodded. "Classical."

"Can I help you?" a young salesgirl with half a ton of make-up on her face asked and beamed at them both.

"My boyfriend is looking for comfortable underpants for a gala event," Erin explained, and her tone was completely different from the men's clothing store, kind of... dismissive?

A little later, however, Aiden understood why, as the young woman completely ignored Erin and concentrated solely on Aiden, which made him a little uncomfortable - in addition to the fact that he had to be lectured about flies with and without buttons or different waistbands.

At the checkout Erin slapped her credit card on the counter and then wrapped her arms around Aiden from the side. "You'll look _scrumptious_ , love, from head to toe." She literally purred and he gently put one arm around her shoulders.

"Do you think so?" he asked doubtfully and caught the smile of the shop assistant.

"Oh yes." Erin's face looked as if she was about to eat him alive and he swallowed hard.

"Your card, ma'am," said the salesgirl politely, and without looking, Erin reached out her hand.

Aiden took the bag of new underpants and a minute later Erin growled:

"I hate women like that."

"Flirtatious salesgirls?" he asked cautiously. A little bit flattered he had been - and a little bit taken aback by Erin's possessive reaction.

"Yes. You belong to me."

He wordlessly raised an eyebrow and rubbed the palm of his hand where the countdown had disappeared.

With an angry sigh, she glanced at her watch. "It's still too early for lunch. Shall we go for a stroll?"

"Why not?" He shrugged and her delicate hand slipped into his big one.

They strolled through the streets like a normal couple on a normal Saturday. Erin greeted here and there, and several times her phone vibrated with calls, but she didn't respond.

"Why don't you answer?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, they're just people who want to know who you are. Either because they just saw us or because they discovered my relationship status." She shrugged disinterested.

"Will you answer them tonight?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"So they'll think it's a Saturday just for me and you alone, you know?" She looked up at him with a smile and he nodded. He wanted so much to make that idea a reality.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, Aiden."

Aiden looked up and frowned as Josh raised his hand in greeting. "What?"

"Miss Callahan is here. It's Tuesday, nine o'clock," Josh called across the yard, grinning.

Aiden knew exactly what day it was and what the clock said, but Kyle was at the front counter this morning and since the extremely unpleasant conversation at the notary's office - Kyle had looked as if he was about to be struck by a stroke - Aiden preferred to avoid his uncle. Still, he nodded at Josh and pushed the box he had just been looking through back into place. He had a rough idea of what to do at Ladybug's checkup and wanted to be prepared.

Inwardly nervous, he went forward and stepped next to Kyle at the counter.

"Good morning, Miss Callahan," he said quietly, smiling carefully at her.

She seemed amused, was perfectly styled, not a single strand of hair out of place, and her lipstick-lined lips smiled as she said: "Good morning, Aiden."

"Hey," Kyle muttered, scribbling in the papers. "Could you bring me the stuff from the printer?"

"Sure." Aiden turned to the giant printer standing in a corner, covered all over with car stickers. For the first time in a long while, he noticed it as he reached for the documents and quickly looked through them, because his childhood-self had put all these stickers on the printer with absolute enthusiasm. By now he was embarrassed about it and hoped that the printer would soon give up the ghost.

"Thanks," Kyle murmured dismissively, not even looking up.

To Aiden's ears, the silence was uncomfortable, and since he was waiting for Kyle to finish the paper anyway, he politely asked: "Anything unusual?"

"No." She shook her head and then frowned. "Well, yeah. The right headlight flickered yesterday, I think, but it wasn't dark enough to really notice."

"I'll have a look at it."

"I know. Ladybug is in the best hands." She winked at him and he blushed.

At that moment, Kyle said: "Okay. Two more signatures here and here and Aiden can start right away." He handed Erin the relevant pages, she signed, and then Aiden collected the clipboard with the car keys.

"You know you can always call me if anything's wrong," she said seriously and Aiden nodded silently.

He hesitated, not knowing exactly why, and finally turned around to get to work.  
  


~  
  


Erin leaned back in her office chair and rubbed her forehead; into this brief moment of silence after a very frustrating phone call, Simon, her assistant, burst in.

"I picked up the suits, Erin," he said with a tired sigh.

"Thank you." She nodded at him, knowing full well that Aiden's new suits would be already tucked neatly away in the wardrobe of her small anteroom.

"Are you sure he can do this?" Simon then wanted to know critically and pushed the narrow glasses briefly into his forehead to rub his eyes.

"It'll be all right," she replied confidently and smiled at him.

Simon's gaze became no less critical as he adjusted the glasses and put one hand on his hip. "You know we're all hungry to see a cute picture, don't you?" By _"we"_ he meant all the women Erin worked with, and then himself.

"You're not into teddy bears," she returned and reached for her phone.

"He's chubby?" Irritated, Simon raised his eyebrows.

"No, but he's kind of like a big teddy bear..." The look on Simon's face made her smile.

"I wasn't aware that you'd started going for these types of guys lately," he remarked, leaning against her desk in anticipation of a more detailed explanation.

"He's terribly shy and that makes him _incredibly_ cute..."

It was amazing how easy it was for her to wrap Simon around her finger - a few romantic elements, infatuation, and a few subtle ambiguous allusions were enough. After twenty minutes, Simon looked like he was in love too.

"You must introduce me to him, Erin!" he demanded with a raised finger.

"Of course. As soon as possible." Amused, she nodded and watched Simon, who left her office with an affected hip swing. Poor Aiden would probably be hopelessly overwhelmed with a gay admirer.

She unlocked the phone she had been playing around with for a while and dialed the number of the car repair shop. The phone rang for an astonishingly long time until a man's voice answered with the usual greeting phrase and sounded very busy while doing so.

"Hello, Callahan here. My car has been stationary since yesterday-" she started politely, but was interrupted immediately.

"Yes, I know. I'll connect you right away, Miss."

She blinked in amazement and then there was another click.

"Frank."

"Hi Frank, it's Callahan, and-" she started again and was interrupted a second time.

"Aiden is pretty busy right now," Frank said with a skeptical undertone and Erin could hear someone cursing in the background.

"With my car, I guess. That's what I'm calling about."

The answer was a sigh. "Hold on." Then Frank removed the phone from his mouth, but Erin still heard him say: "Miss Callahan wants a word with you."

"Is this really necessary right _now_? I finally found that damn cable," Aiden growled clearly audible.

"It's _her_ car we're talking about. And she's hardly likely to be calling just for fun."

_Yeah, well to be honest..._ Erin thought and had to smile. Yesterday, in the presence of his uncle, he had been decidedly too formal for her.

Apparently, the phone switched to Aiden and then he said, very politely: "Miss Callahan, how can I help you?"

"Hello, love," she said softly.

His breath hitched audibly. "Y-yes?"

"There's nothing wrong with Ladybug, right?"

"Uh... yeah... sure..." he said reluctantly.

"And the cable?"

"Cable?" he asked, puzzled. "Oh! Yes, the cable... um... about the headlight..."

"Can I pick up Ladybug tonight?" she wanted to know, though she knew pretty well what the answer would be.

"When you come to the end of duty, it should be ready," he said and surprised her a little, the whole thing had sounded different in the morning.

"Ah. Good." She nodded thoughtfully. "Actually, why I'm calling... Simon has picked up your suits and I bought two pairs of cuff links yesterday. We'll have to see what we pick out for Saturday." She picked up a pencil and started playing with it.

"Um...yeah..."

"Do you remember who Simon is?" she asked, simply to see how closely he had looked at the questionnaire.

"No," he hesitantly admitted.

"My assistant. You should know that. He won't be there Saturday, but his name will definitely come up."

Aiden sighed. "I'm operating on Ladybug, Miss Callahan..."

_"Darling..."_ Just that one word, a gentle warning...

"Yeah?"

"Why so formal?"

He inhaled with a hiss and then said quietly and a little bit tense: "I'm working."

"I know. And we discussed that our relationship should be publicly acknowledged."

"I know." he repeated, even a little more tense than before.

"So why don't you just tell your colleagues about your new girlfriend?" she asked curiously, twirling the pen between her fingers.

Aiden seemed to struggle with himself, but didn't really answer.

"You're a family business, aren't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"And if I remember correctly, it's just men working for you, isn't it?"

"Right, but what-"

"So just tell them, dress it up a bit nicely for all I care, and get celebrated, okay?"

He sighed long. "Okay."

"Just _okay_?" Why was that so much fun, anyway?

"It's okay... _Erin_."

"That's better. But Aiden?"

"Yeah?" He sounded tormented.

"Tell me something nice before you hang up."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. How about an _"I love you, see you tonight"_?"

"Uh... Yes, darling." His voice was shaking a little.

"No _I love you_?" She kept teasing him. "Come on, Aiden, take it seriously."

"Love you too," he finally brought out and hung up almost immediately.

Giggling, she opened WhatsApp and wrote him a quick apology, then put her phone down. That was definitly too much fun.

~

With trembling fingers, Aiden placed the telephone on a workbench and his face began to burn as he caught Frank's gaze.

"Did I hear that right? You're calling your precious Miss Callahan _darling_ all of a sudden?" Frank sounded absolutely incredulous.

"I told you I had a girlfriend," Aiden muttered sheepishly. Right now he hated her a little bit for making that phone call.

"Dude, you made the catch of a lifetime!" Before Aiden could prepare, Frank slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Is she just pretty or is she good?"

"Good?" Aiden asked, irritated, and Frank grinned broadly.

"Come on... I don't need details, but..." Frank winked and Aiden blushed even more before he nodded. He had no idea how long this fake relationship would last, but according to Erin's statement they would at most kiss a little in public and whether she was good or not he would probably never be able to judge. He didn't have a comparison anyway.

"Is that why you took Friday off?" Another ambiguous smirk.

"Yeah." No. After Lucifer's completely unnecessary "jerk off" task, the countdown had begun to tick for "Spend 24 hours straight naked". One task was dumber than the other.

"Well, have fun." Frank grinned and Aiden managed to at least nod with a wry smile.

A little rattled, he turned back to the car and the problem with the cable, when suddenly Kyle appeared in the yard and asked aloud:

"Has anyone seen Josh?"

"Nope," Ronny shouted from another repair bay and Frank shouted enthusiastically:

"Do you know the latest? Your nephew is about to marry rich!"

"What?" it suddenly came from everywhere.

"Frank!", Aiden hissed angrily, turning bright red again.

"What? You need help spreading the good news."

"I hate you!"

"I know." And Frank just grinned.


	9. Chapter 9

The countdown on Aiden's phone still showed just over two hours and with a sigh he rubbed his neck. Being naked made him uncomfortable, even if it was just in his own home; everything was sticky and felt awkward in some way.  
He had just put the phone on the table to pour fresh water for himself when it began to buzz.   
  
Erin- a video call.   
  
He made a face and took the call. "Hi."

"Oh." Surprised, she looked at him. "Am I interrupting?" At normal video-call distance, it was clearly visible that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"I was about to take a shower," he lied and blushed.

"Can it wait five minutes?"

"Sure." He nodded slightly.

"Very well. About tomorrow... well, the car's coming at 6:30, so it would be good if you could be here around five." She looked at him seriously, so he nodded. "Please go carefully through all the information I sent you and will send you in two minutes."

He nodded again, although he wondered what kind of information she was going to throw around his ears now, because he seriously doubted that a normal boyfriend knew all these things and had them permanently available.

She kept on babbling, flooding him with verbal notes he couldn't remember anyway, but even if he had wanted to listen attentively, his gaze remained glued to something else. She was wearing a tight tank top and apparently no bra underneath. Although he was already naked, he was getting warm.

"Aiden, love, are you listening?"

"I'm sorry?" He blinked at the phone and she frowned.

"Apparently not. I just told you to be sure to shave thoroughly before you come over."

He nodded and refused to ask which parts of the body she meant. Even if she were to include his chest - which she had just had a good look at - he wouldn't do that again after the rather unpleasant experience as a teenager.

Apparently she was actually annoyed by his lack of attention, as her lips curled in displeasure for a moment before she said: "See you tomorrow at five."

Into his nod she hung up.

~

Erin took a look in the mirror, brushed a crumb of makeup off her eyebrow and briefly pulled a pout before turning away. The makeup was in perfect place, so it was time for the dress. She left the bathroom and went back into the bedroom where Aiden was buttoning his shirt in front of the big mirror and seemed a little surprised that she just walked in.

"Love, first the shoes, then the shirt. When bending down to tie the laces, the shirt slips out of the pants too much."

"Um..." The fact that she privately called him by his chosen name of affection seemed to throw him a little off track, but she wanted to get used to it.

"First shoes, then shirt," she repeated, and he nodded devotedly, she took her dress off the hanger and went back to the bathroom.

The dark red dress had half-length sleeves, barely a neckline, and reached modestly over the knee; she liked it and had quite deliberately chosen a matching tie for Aiden.

With said tie in his hand, Aiden stood indecisively in front of the mirror as she stepped back into the bedroom.

"Would you help me with my zipper, please?"

"Sure." He threw the tie on the bed and she turned her back on him. Carefully he pulled the delicate zipper, obviously trying not to touch her skin or bra, and immediately took a step back.

"Shall I help you with your tie?" she wanted to know and he nodded slightly embarrassed.

"The last try looked pretty awful," he confessed, and she smiled before taking the tie off the bed and tying it around him classically in a few easy steps.

"How come you're so good at it?", he asked curiously as she straightened the finished knot.

"My brother went to Emmerson High, you know, that awfully strict private high school up north with those ugly school uniforms. I tied his tie in the morning for years." The memory of that hurt. Alex could have dressed properly himself, but they needed these little gestures of affection between the siblings as a pitiful substitute for the lack of parental attention.

When Erin noticed that her hand was still on Aiden's chest, she pulled it back and took a small step to the side. Judging by Aiden's cautious smile, he had read the information about Alex and, fortunately, he didn't say anything, but carefully touched the knot of the tie.

As a distraction Erin grabbed her phone and took a picture.

"Hey...", Aiden protested half-heartedly.

"What? You agreed to let us take pictures." In her private photo gallery on Facebook, that would look good.

He sighed. "Photos as a couple. Why take a picture of me dressing?"

"It has charm." She shrugged. "Lots of women are attracted to men in suits."

He raised his brows and turned away to reach for his jacket; yet she saw him blush.

She watched him slip into the jacket a little uncomfortably, fumbling with the collar, tugging at the tie again, buttoning the jacket and finally tugging at the sleeves. Then she turned around and made a selfie with Aiden in the background, still tugging at his sleeves of the jacket. His facial expression seemed surprisingly sincere in the photo and gave him something unusually serious.

"The way you look, one might think I forced you to play my better half," she remarked teasingly.

He blushed again. "No! No. No, I mean... well... the next event will be better."

She doubted it, but she nodded and slipped her phone into her clutch, tucked it under her arm and then brushed an imaginary dust off Aiden's shoulder.

The serious expression had disappeared - now he seemed like a teddy bear again. A teddy bear waiting for instructions.

"You read the information? About the event, the people, the rules of etiquette?"

He sighed. "Yes." With his unhappy face, she even believed him.

"Well, then-" The doorbell interrupted her and she hurried to the intercom.

"Miss Callahan, the car is waiting," George, her chauffeur, announced.

"Thank you." She half turned and waved to Aiden. "Come."

  
  


While in the car, she uploaded the two photos to her private gallery and after she put the phone away, she reached for Aiden's hand.

"Hey."

He winced, obviously lost in thought.

"No one's gonna eat you up in there, okay?"

"Except your mother?" Skeptically, he raised an eyebrow.

She smiled. "Okay, nobody but my mom, but..." Maybe it would be better to tell him about the Jayden thing. "Well, my mom's a little pissed off because she wanted to set me up with someone. He tried to disguise it as a meeting between old friends, but not very well."

"She sent someone after you?" Stunned, he looked at her.

"Something like that, yes. Jayden Sterling, a friend from school."

" _Sterling_ as in _Sterling Star Transports_?" he asked cautiously and she nodded. "No offense, but I really don't want anything to do with them." The rumors about the company had shifted into a minor scandal just a few days ago.

"Martin Sterling really is a nasty guy and he won't be here. Jayden is actually a nice man and has a good heart, but I doubt he'll show up today." If Jayden was smart, he privately dug up his father's secrets and left the family business. But if she was honest, she doubted he had enough balls for that.

Aiden looked at her skeptically, seemed to think that maybe there was dirt stuck to her family name too, but he didn't ask or say anything else.

"Don't look like a scared rabbit, please," she said, because they were almost there.

He nodded and tried a smile that still looked intimidated but was a significant improvement. "You look good... _darling_."

"Thank you." The car stopped and she squeezed his hand. “Let’s go.”


	10. Chapter 10

Aiden was clearly in the wrong place when he stepped, holding Erin's hand, into the large lobby of the conference hotel. He did not belong here.   
Expensively dressed people were everywhere, talking and laughing and sipping champagne. He could see Erin put on a smile, felt her briefly squeezing his hand, and then she threw herself into the turmoil.

It actually took only three polite encounters before he realized that he was nothing more than a pretty accessory. That nothing was expected of him except polite, meaningless words. That his only duty was to worship Erin.   
His infatuation had admittedly been dampened by her cool business manner, and as they buzzed on from VIP couple to VIP couple, he wondered if he even liked the real Erin under the mask - because the _mask_ was stunning.

"Hey," she finally said and stopped next to a column.

"Hmm?"

She put a hand on his chest and looked at him. "Are you all right?"

He nodded. "Yes, everything's fine." That wasn't quite right, but at least he wasn't sweating like crazy from nervousness anymore. He managed to give her a real smile and she nodded.

"My mom should be here soon," she said after a quick glance at the delicate watch on her wrist and Aiden grimaced. Meeting a girl's parents was probably always a special thing, but Joanna Callahan? Everything he knew so far made his instincts cry "run away!"

"Don't worry, I'll defend you with teeth and claws. You belong with me." It was supposed to sound reassuring, but it made him raise an eyebrow skeptically.

"It sounds like she's stolen a guy from you before."

Erin snorted. "She doesn't bother. I meant more that she's gonna question my decision. That she's gonna question you. I chose you, and that's the end of the discussion."

"Okay..." he said slowly and no less skeptically than before, but the pugnacious flash in her eyes was amusing on the one hand and reassuring on the other. She kissed him briefly on the cheek and then took his hand again; although her hand was so small and delicate, it was a very comforting gesture.

Another elegant couple was approached by Erin, but this greeting was much more cordial and honest.

"Aiden, this is Arabella and Cole Hawthorne, Josy's parents."

"Pleased to meet you," Aiden said, and as he shook hands, he got nauseous. Josy was Erin's best friend, he knew that much, but Arabella Hawthorne was a fashion designer and Aiden's mom was a big fan of her collections. Another point he was unsure about was how to explain it credibly to his mom.

"Honey, you _absolutely_ have to introduce your beautiful darling to Josy. She was already a bit upset about it," Arabella said after she had examined Aiden.

"I know, I know." Erin sighed. "But the schedule is always so uncomfortably full."

"You work too much."

"Oh, I'm not just talking about myself."

Again, the attention fell on Aiden and he blushed, but Arabella ignored the obvious question and said instead:

"In two weeks time, we're going to have our usual garden party. You're coming, right?"

"Of course, we are. I won't miss it." Erin beamed so honestly that Aiden had to smile.

Then the conversation turned to other things and Aiden, just like Cole, stood next to it as an uninvolved pretty accessory, smiling and nodding politely.

"Showtime," Erin muttered less than half a minute after the Hawthornes had left for another chat. Aiden lifted his gaze and spotted Erin's grandfather plus his daughter relatively close to the entrance, but both Erin and Aiden strolled purposefully and leisurely toward them, with Aiden unable to tell whether he was holding on to her or the other way around.

"Hey Mom, hi Grandpa!"

"Hello little one," said Mr. Callahan happily, and Erin bent down to kiss the old man on the cheek. Only when she straightened up did Aiden say:

"Good evening, sir."

At the same time, Mrs. Callahan said: "Erin..."

"Mr. Matthews, what a nice surprise!" Mr. Callahan grinned widely and patted Aiden's hand as they shook hands. Aiden blushed - he had known Erin's grandpa for more than ten years and had never been spoken to so formally.

"Mom, this is Aiden Matthews, my boyfriend," Erin said strangely calmly, and Aiden looked at her mom, who gave him a cool glare.

"Mr. Matthews..."

"Good evening, ma'am." Since she made no effort to offer him her hand in greeting, he stood a little tense until he at least got a nod, whereupon he forced a smile on his face.

"How long will the relationship last _this_ time? Three weeks? Four?" Mrs. Callahan asked indifferently and Aiden was grateful that Erin reached for his hand again. Her face looked frighteningly similar to her mother's- the two of them looked eerily alike, even though Joanna's thirty years more were clearly visible.

"We've been dating since February, Mom," Erin said coolly, and there was nothing loving about the word _Mom_. "But since we both have a lot to do, we took it slow. The death of Aiden's dad was the kick in the ass we needed."

Aiden tried hard not to make a face, but it felt strange to mix reality with the fake relationship in such a way. To his surprise, Joanna looked at him scrutinizing again and then slowly nodded a wordless condolence.

"A word, Erin," she said and Erin sighed.

"Do we have to do this _now_?"

"I'm afraid so."

The two women took a few steps to the side and Aiden and Mr. Callahan also moved away.

"I know you probably can't hear it anymore, but I'm really sorry about Lucas," said the old man, audibly saddened.

"Me too," Aiden said silently. Mr. Callahan patted him on the upper arm benignly and then smiled.

"You picked a difficult girl, boy."

"Oh... um..." Aiden blushed and glanced at the two women, who were talking with serious eyes. "I think I'm... more like the prey." Strange how that word felt so right and so wrong at the same time.

Mr. Callahan grinned widely. "Once you understand that, you'll be on the safe side. In that respect, she and Joanna are the same. Give them what they want, and in return, you too will get everything you want. But the tin better not be missing a piece of candy." He winked. "If you take as good a care of your girl as you do your car, you can't go wrong."

"I doubt Erin's got a warning light on when something's wrong, though."

Mr. Callahan laughed so heartily that some people turned to them. "No, I don't think so. But by now you should know her well enough to read her moods."

And because Aiden had no real answer to that, he just smiled crookedly.

Three middle-aged men who joined them saved him- more or less- because suddenly he- he who was only an accessory- found himself in the middle of a business discussion to which he could contribute absolutely nothing and most of the time didn't even know what it was about.

When he then looked to the side, he realized with horror that Erin had disappeared. Into a tiny pause in the conversation he muttered:

"I think I should go find my girlfriend."

That was easier said than done, because the large reception room was now packed to the rafters. To make his search seem a little less aimless, he stepped up to the small bar.

"Champagne, orange juice, white wine-" the man behind the counter began with a polite smile.

"Two orange juices," Aiden said hurriedly. He had read that Erin never drank alcohol, and he himself was not a big fan of it, except for the occasional beer with his colleagues. With two dainty glasses, he set out again and paused when he heard a familiar male voice:

"You really dared to show up here without an escort?"

"I brought my boyfriend." It was Erin who answered in an angry tone.

"Yeah sure, how long does it last this time? Two weeks? Three? Poor guy..."

Aiden's gaze found Erin's red dress half-hidden behind a column and approached her; while he handed her a glass, he said:

"How about using a different tone of voice with my girlfriend?" Now that he had one hand free, he put an arm around Erin's shoulders and then raised his eyes to the man she was talking to. Mike Bennett, namely Aiden's best friend, stared at him in amazement.

"May I present: my boyfriend Aiden. Aiden, this is-"

"What the hell are you doing here?" it blurted out of Mike and now Erin also seemed surprised.

"You know each other?" she asked, while Aiden said coolly:

"Escorting my girlfriend to an event, or what does it look like?" He was still angry because Mike had almost completely ignored him during his three-month stay in Singapore- otherwise he would have already known what was going on.

"Holy shit!"

"Mike!" Erin gave him a sharp look and Aiden wondered how well they knew each other, because there was no question _that_ they knew each other- and it was understandable, considering that Mike's family was in the same circles as Erin's. Strange that Mike had never mentioned this because Aiden had told him about his crush often enough.

"I think we should talk," Mike said quietly and Aiden nodded.

"Yes, I think we should." Maybe Erin had been one of Mike's many one-night stands.

"Guys?"

"Oh, Aiden's my best friend..." Mike said and suddenly sounded a little embarrassed and almost meek. And then Aiden was nothing but a spectator again as Erin looked from one to the other and angrily narrowed her brows.

"You're a real grade-A asshole, Michael."

In the background a gong called into the conference room.

"What do you want from me now?"

"Oh, you know, it doesn't seem to me like you told your best friend about us!"

" _Us_?", Aiden asked irritated and Mike ducked his head a little.

"Mike and I were a couple for almost two years," she explained and Aiden became nauseous.

"Oh..."

"Given the situation, it seems quite appropriate not to have told," Mike said cautiously and Erin hissed:

"That was back in my college days, you idiot! And that was a few years ago!"

Aiden could understand, in a way, that Mike hadn't told him- it was awkward to have a crush on your best friend's ex- but on the other hand, they were standing on thin ice. If Mike made a wrong remark about Aiden's feelings, he had a problem.

"Mike stopped mentioning any names to me pretty early on," he said, noticing Mike's almost grateful look, as Erin snorted.

The second gong sounded in the background.

"That doesn't make it better." She gave Mike an angry glare before taking Aiden by the hand and pulling him toward the conference room. Both had the still untouched orange juice in their hands and Aiden hastily placed it on one of the many high tables before he bent over to Erin.

"What are we going to do with Mike? He knows us both pretty well..." He made a face because it sounded as if they had to eliminate a dangerous witness.

"I know," she murmured and squeezed his hand. "God, this idiot should've stayed in Singapore."

Aiden saw it differently, he had missed Mike, but at least he had returned at a most inopportune time.


	11. Chapter 11

Erin literally held on to Aiden, but the big rough hand was reassuring. Inwardly, she was still boiling, and it was probably only the fact that it was a fake relationship that had kept her from making a scene with her mother during dinner and the speeches about the progress of the planning. Joanna had hit below the belt this time, very low, and along with Mike's performance... no, Erin was not in a good mood.

Her distorted reflection in the car's separating glass grinned at her crookedly and she pressed her lips together before taking a quick look at Aiden. He noticed her glance and turned to her, checking her briefly before asking:

"Are fake boyfriends really the norm with you?"

She shrugged. "Mike keeps lists of his one-night stands, I keep lists of fake boyfriends. Only with the difference that I don't have any"- she raised her free hand and painted quotation marks in the air "happy ends." Despite the darkness, she could have sworn that he blushed.

"But that means that nobody will believe you- us."

"Trust me, this is different."

He looked at her skeptically, but said nothing. For a moment she was looking for words, then she gave up. But suddenly the tinted partition pane went down and she already had a sharp question on her lips- the chauffeur didn't have a little intercom for nothing- when Lucifer turned to her from the passenger seat. He smiled in that polite way that implied he was actually quite busy.

"You know, dear, Aiden is right. Mike knows you too well. You can tell him the truth." He frowned. "Well, not the whole truth, but most of it. You really don't have to mention me."

She indicated a nod, Lucifer winked at her and disappeared with the next blink; the partition panel went back up as if it had only been an accident.

"You know..." she said slowly and Aiden looked at her questioningly, "you're right. We should tell Mike the truth."

He seemed relieved and nodded before he cracked a tired smile.

Now she let go of his hand and pulled her phone out of her clutch to write Mike a message.

_"We need to talk. But I would prefer if you talk to me first."_

_"Okay. I'll be around tomorrow afternoon."_

~

The low hum of a coffee machine ripped Aiden out of a X-rated dream and in an attempt to orientate himself, he first pushed his phone off the couch and then almost landed on the floor himself. With a groan he sat up and rubbed his face.

"Good morning. Would you like some coffee?" Erin didn't sound like she was really awake.

"Yeah..." He bent down for his phone, realized he had a mighty morning wood, and then read the messages he had missed.

Noah, Mike's little brother, like a few others, had seen the photos on Erin's Facebook page and Aiden had no idea what to say to the sometimes rather dirty statements. For now, probably nothing at all. But then there was a new message from Lucifer:

"Buy lingerie for your girlfriend."

Marvelous. The next task would be to give her this as present, for sure. Twice as marvelous.

He rubbed the palm of his hand where the countdown was running and then sighed before he reached into his pants to tuck his dick under the waistband of his shorts so Erin wouldn't notice. But as soon as he stood up, he realized his mistake. He had brought the wrong shorts - under the pressure the worn out elastic immediately started to slip.

Shit.

A little tense, he stepped into the kitchen, where Erin had just put a cup of coffee for him on the small table. At the sight of her, both his dick and his heart made a jump: black hot pants and a skin-tight pink tank top.

"Morning," he somehow brought out before hurrying to sit down.

She smiled crookedly. "Slept well?" She also sat down and he nodded while he reached for his cup.

"Your couch is mega comfortable." It really was, besides the fact that it looked really good.

"It was a nice prize, too," Erin muttered into her cup. He had already thought so, but hey... he would probably get the chance to enjoy this good sofa bed now and then.

They remained silent for a while, sipped coffee and tried more or less successfully to wake up. Aiden's dream had already faded away, but the last impressions of it, the cleavage he saw, with the nipples clearly visible through the shirt, were enough to make him sink into dozy daydreams. However, he was awake enough to be ashamed of the said thoughts and his admiring stare- even at her ass when she got up to get the things for breakfast. A little bit at least, after all she had an admirable body. Unfortunately, none of this helped to make his morning wood go to sleep.

"How do you have time on the weekend?", she suddenly wanted to know and he was startled to realize that he hadn't noticed how she had taken out her phone parallel to breakfast.

"I have to work on Saturday," he replied and shoved the last spoonful of cornflakes in his mouth.

"Early?"

He shook his head. "I don't start till noon."

"Fine." She nodded thoughtfully, typed something and then put the phone aside. "Josy wants to meet you, of course, but we'll keep it short for now. We'll pretend you spent the night here, you say hello to her for a moment and then I'll take her out for brunch while you go to work."

"Okay... And what were we theoretically doing on Friday night?" Well, he'd have to tell his guys something too.

"A movie and...?" She tilted her head in question. "Pizza? Sushi? Burgers?"

"Sushi." Good sushi was expensive and he hardly knew anyone who liked it, so the others would be doubly happy that he had found someone to eat this 'disgusting fish goo' with. Erin, however, smiled contentedly.

"Okay, sushi, some movies... you know, we could actually do that."

Surprised, he looked at her and could hardly believe his luck. Still, he carefully asked: "I thought Friday night was sacred to you?"

"It is. But as long as you don't have any plans, we can have dinner together, make up some stories and really watch a movie. That'll save you the hassle of having to rush out in the morning to simulate a night together."

He nodded. A cozy evening with Erin sounded great. In a way, at least. Even though they talked about their _shared project_ , she didn't sound half as business-like as before, as far as that was concerned. She was much more relaxed than usual and he liked her informal appearance to him as well - generally speaking; it would have been kind of uncomfortable if they had already sat down at the breakfast table all neat and tidy.

"Okay..." He tried not to smile too silly.

"But since Josy is my best friend and not the public, we will have to kiss in her presence. At least for goodbye."

He nodded and was a bit surprised by her slightly mocking smile.

"And since you said that you wanted to practice before..."

"I don't think I used the word _practice_..." he returned, perhaps a little too defensively, because her smile became wider, though more honest.

"Anyway..." She made an inviting gesture. "How do you imagine a good-bye kiss?"

Stunned, he blinked at her. What was he supposed to say now? Tender but short? Or long, because they were more of a weekend romance? Or short because someone was watching?

She got up, put the milk back into the fridge and when it closed, she remarked: "You're not expected to write a master's thesis on it, Aiden. Just kiss me."

He swallowed, his gaze moved along her body and slowly he stood up. His dick, which had calmed down during breakfast, fortunately remained silent while she looked at him expectantly. He had no idea where to put his hands, finally put one on her hip and gave her a short, almost fleeting kiss.

She blinked at him. "That," she said and critically raised an eyebrow, "is a goodbye kiss after fifteen years of marriage. But not for a couple newly in love."

"Yeah... well..." he murmured embarrassed and felt his cheeks burning.

"If you kiss me like that in Josy's presence, she won't believe me at all that we have a satisfying sex life."

Thereupon more than just his cheeks burned and he frantically searched for words, but Erin's smile took the subliminal sharpness out of her words. She took his hands and placed them at her waist, then wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Have a nice day," she said softly and breathed a kiss on his mouth, "greet your uncle," another kiss, "and come back tonight in a good mood."

He was too stunned to answer, but she didn't really give him time either before she kissed him again. And this time properly.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice murmured that even couples who had just fallen in love hardly kissed each other so intensively before a separation of a few hours, but what did he know?

He kissed back, got goose bumps when their tongues met, and when Erin's hand with gently scratching fingernails moved up his neck to the back of his head to pull his head further down, his loins awoke again. His fingers almost bored into her sides because he was afraid they would start to wander otherwise, but as she gently bit his lower lip, one hand nonetheless found a way under her shirt and caressed the soft skin of her back. She got goose bumps - because of him! - and snuggled up to him.

Unfortunately, he was already hard enough that Erin had to feel it clearly- and indeed, she paused.

"Sorry..." he whispered, feeling like a horny teenager and was ashamed.

She cleared her throat and retreated, blushing and looking past him. "That," she cleared her throat again, "was perhaps a little exaggerated."

"I... um..." Aiden took a step back and felt the need to hide his boner, even though it was useless. Erin's lips were reddened and slightly swollen from kissing, they shone moist and inviting; along with the nipples standing hard through the shirt fabric, this caused his dick to twitch visibly.   
"I'm gonna dress."


	12. Chapter 12

Erin was about to write a short apology to Aiden about the kiss- after all, she had started it- but decided not to. She didn't really want to apologize at all, because- what for? It had been a good kiss. And the look on Aiden's face had been heavenly. She usually liked men who knew what they wanted and who had no problem with telling and getting it. Aiden was definitely not one of them, but something about him appealed to her and a little voice asked curiously how far she could tease him.

One of the guys who knew exactly what they wanted rang the doorbell and she let him in.   
When Mike finally reached the eleventh floor and closed the door behind him, he didn't look like the bad boy he was. Still jet-lagged, with wildly spiky black hair, unshaven and in clothes that didn't suit him, he stood there and looked at her disgruntled.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked, after they hadn't even greeted each other, but had directly remained silent.

"How serious is it with you and Aiden?" he asked back and came a few steps closer. He smelled of fresh cigarette smoke- since he only smoked when he was under stress, this was not a good sign.

"It's fake," she said directly and watched his reaction, which seemed surprised and not surprised at the same time, but above all, laboriously controlled and actually angry.

"We made a deal," she added as anger seemed to take over in Mike.

"I want details."

She made a 'what do you want to hear now?' gesture and suppressed a sigh.

"Why? Why him?"

Since Mike knew the business world and its large families, she decided to stay as close to the truth as possible.

"Jayden Sterling asked me out quite unexpectedly," she started and promptly Mike raised an eyebrow. "Shortly after, I stumbled across a probably dirty deal between my mother and Martin Sterling and found out that they put him up to me. Not that I really bought his interest, but-"

"Jayden can fake three dozen accounts for you believably, but no feelings," Mike noticed a little snide and shook his head minimally.

"Well, anyway... what I heard told me that I might need to set my personal life a little outside of certain circles... and a little more authentic." She made a face and Mike grinned for a moment before he asked:

"What does Aiden know about this? Why him?"

"I told him that my mum wanted to set me up with Jayden and that appearance is important, so I would need a fake boyfriend for a few months."

"A couple of months?" Now Mike was really surprised and she shrugged.

"At least until the gala. But like I said, I'm going through this convincingly, there's a horrible breakup and then I'm heartbroken for a while." That would, in theory, be a good explanation for her preferred single life.

Mike snorted. "Broken heart, sure..."

"I chose Aiden because... well, he's handsome, he's shy in a helpful way, he's not one of us..." Again she shrugged. "He agreed, so what do you want? And why the hell doesn't your best friend know about your almost two-year relationship?" This actually bothered her, although she remembered by now that Mike had told her about his terribly shy best friend.

"Aiden told you: I never mention names, but he knew I had a girlfriend, so that was enough."

She snorted and crossed her arms. "Oh, yeah?"

Mike looked at her for a moment. "He has no idea what he got himself into." He made it sound like she was a dangerous predator that Aiden had brought home to cuddle, and she grimaced.

"He told me he doesn't really have experience, so what? Everyone needs a little variety..." Something in his face made her pause. "What?"

With his brows raised, he shook his head. "I'll tell you one thing... treat him good. _Better_ than good. He's not one of those you can just use and throw away."

"I'm _not_ using him!" she returned sharply. "We made an agreement, and I'm gonna stick to it."

It was obvious Mike was struggling with the words in his mouth, then he quietly repeated: "Treat him good."

As there was a certain threat in his voice, she raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Otherwise... I might decide to resume old business."

This worked, very effectively even, and she nodded. She was one of the few who knew about his hacking skills, but she didn't want to know more than that. If he couldn't find any dirty secrets, he could just make some up...  
She had loved Mike, very much so, had had a hard time after the breakup, and even though it was all years ago, part of her wanted him to protect her like he did for his best friend now.

" _Now_ I'll have a coffee."

His words tore her from her thoughts and she made an inviting gesture towards the kitchen. "You know... if Aiden had said _no_ , I would have asked you."

Mike suddenly laughed so loudly that she almost dropped the cup. "Seriously? You would've tried to make the whole world think that our relationship had a revival?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know you would've said _no_." Why had she even told him?

"You know that for a fact?" With his head tilted, he looked at her and she shivered. On the one hand because the idea of having Mike back in her bed was enchanting, on the other hand she suddenly wondered why she was so attracted to these human predators, because at that very moment she deeply hated the feeling of being the prey.

"You know my attitude towards fake relationships," she said, turning her head away.

"No sex," he confirmed amused. "But I know you, Erin. It wouldn't have worked with us. You know the old saying: only stew tastes good warmed up."

She sighed annoyed and handed him his coffee. She didn't like his mocking smile. "Aiden is a good guy," she said seriously, hoping that Mike would understand that she really meant it. "I explained it to him, he agreed. If he wants to withdraw from the deal, he can." But she couldn't let him do that, couldn't allow it and so she would make sure that he had no reason to end it on his own. Only if there was a woman he was actually interested in, she couldn't do anything, but she would deal with that if the case came up.

"Win-win, huh?" Still skeptical, Mike looked at her over the coffee cup.

She nodded. "I guess his closet is happy for the attention."

Mike snorted suppressed and wiped coffee from his face after. "You're mean."

"No, just honest." She didn't have to tell _him_ how horrible he looked in the clothes he had chosen because he knew himself- that's probably why he wore them. He was aware that in the right outfit and with the right smile, he would cause plenty of wet panties- and that made him dangerous.

Mike drank his coffee and they examined each other.

"I think I'm going to join some of the parties this summer," he finally said thoughtfully. He hadn't done that in years.

"Do you want to look over my shoulder?" she wanted to know sourly and he smiled.

"In a way." He pressed the empty cup into her hand, jokingly saluted with two fingers and then left her apartment just as not-greeting as he had come.

~

A little surprised that Mike didn't just call, but came right over, Aiden closed the door behind him.

"You could've-"

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?"

Mike's intonation made Aiden flinch.

"Erin told me it was fake, but honestly, is it worth it?" Disbelieving and strangely angry, Mike leaned with folded arms against Aiden's dining table, which creaked alarmingly.

Aiden leaned against the back of the sofa bed in the same manner as Mike. "I promised Dad I'd ask her out, he drops dead and then she comes over and asks me to be her fake boyfriend because she doesn't want a real relationship. So-"

"Shit."

Before Aiden could blink, he suddenly found himself in a hug.

"Shit. Fuck. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I completely blanked out with Lucas. Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?"

Surprised, Aiden patted him on the back and was strangely relieved to see real shock on Mike's face.

"I'm sorry. Promise me we'll go to his grave in the next few days, okay? I want to say goodbye." Mike sniffed and Aiden nodded, swallowed the lump in his throat and although he was still mad at Mike, he relaxed a little. Lucas had been the dad for Mike his own father had never really been. "Okay... okay. Back to the topic. Erin."

Aiden shrugged. "If I had really asked her out, she would have politely declined."

"So now you're taking your indirect chance?"

Again, Aiden shrugged. Erin confused him a bit.

Mike sighed and then suddenly smiled crookedly. "Is the truth under the mask no longer entirely to your liking?"

"I don't even know what the truth about her is," he admitted and hesitated. Mike knew. But did he really want to ask him about it?

"Will you tell me about you two?" Mike asked quietly, somehow gently, and Aiden could not help but nod and tell.

Later, Mike's answer was a half mocking, half melancholic smile. "Sunday-morning-Erin is the real one."

"Somehow reassuring," Aiden muttered, although he hadn't really digested this embarrassing incident yet.

"Take it up."

"How?"

"Don't just stop the show once you're alone," was Mike's pragmatic suggestion and Aiden sighed.

"It's not gonna work, Mike. I can't just kiss her for real or-"

"This doesn't just refer to kissing, my goodness. A relationship is more than the sexual part of it." Mike rolled his eyes. "This is supposed to last for months, isn't it?"

Aiden nodded silently.

"Then show her that she can get more out of the relationship than just a handsome escort to events. Her problem is that she has always been in her own circles until now. You are different. And this is your chance."

Although Mike seemed very convinced, Aiden was not so sure. "I can't hold a candle to her. She has standards quite different from... _me_." With a curt gesture, he pointed to his tiny one-room apartment. The dining table Mike was leaning against was older than Aiden himself, his desk had been given to him for his fifth birthday, and his tiny kitchen had probably cost less than Erin's coffee machine.

Mike sighed. "I don't necessarily mean material things either. Sure, she'll be happy about presents, but she'll certainly be happier about a book than about the hundredth pair of earrings. Besides- I've been listening to your lovesick talk for two years now, and now of all times you literally chicken out?"

Aiden opened his mouth for an answer and then closed it unused. He had no idea what he actually wanted. Whether he could bear Erin's masks, for tiny moments without a mask in return. The countdown on his hand glowed and he rubbed it, wondering what Lucifer would ask him to do when Erin was no longer around - because sometime in the fall, the thing was probably over.

"It really bothers you that she has different faces, hmm?" Mike then asked cautiously and Aiden shrugged.

"I guess I'm a pretty simple guy."

Mike laughed quietly but full of affection and patted Aiden on the shoulder. "Make something out of it, dude. Even if it's just a bad experience."

"Doesn't it bother you that she's your ex?" Aiden wanted to know and Mike shook his head.

"The woman she is now has little in common with the girl I was in love with back then." He seemed to want to say more, but then let it go and Aiden nodded slowly.

"I wish I were more like you," he murmured and Mike snorted.

"No, you don't really want that. Trust me. Being me isn't half as pleasant as it seems."

Aiden made a face.

"Lucas would have a great laugh about this situation."

"You can't tell anyone this is just fake, okay?"

Mike raised his hands and smiled apologetically. "Why should I? I don't want it to just _look_ real, I want it to _be_ real. And if I can, I'll help."

A faint smile crept up on Aiden's lips and he nodded. Mike may have been the exact opposite of him in many ways, but nonetheless, Aiden loved him like a brother and he knew Mike felt the same way.


	13. Chapter 13

The hydraulics buzzed and the chains clanked quietly before straining and pulling the engine out of the car. The construction jerked.

"Slow!" Aiden said sharply to Josh, who was holding the remote control, and put a hand on the engine as it began to spin.

"I know how to do that," Josh returned snappily, but whatever he did- the engine bucked in the chains again.

"I said slow, you dickhead!"

"Shut up, you son of a bitch!"

"I didn't hear that!"

Aiden barely got his hand between his forehead and the engine block, but at the same time he turned halfway around while Josh stammered in shock:

"Sorry, Mrs. Grant, ma'am."

"What are you doing here?" Aiden asked no less perplexed and stared at his mother, who was in her light pink summer dress completely out of place in the dirty gray workshop yard.

"Am I not even allowed to say hello to my son anymore?", Dr. Amanda Grant asked slightly annoyed and Aiden suppressed a sigh.

"You wouldn't drive two hours for a simple hello." And turning to Josh, he added: "Put that thing down. _Without_ a scratch."

Josh nodded and denied his usual mocking comments in the presence of Amanda; Aiden stepped out of the repair bay into the sunshine.

"Hello, Aiden." Amanda stretched and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Mom." He wrung himself a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to bug you. I have to talk with Kyle about something and-"

"Kyle's not here."

"Of course. Kyle is never there when you need him," she noticed sourly and brushed a strand from her forehead. Her hair had the same reddish-brown tone as his, but she had to add a little color in the meantime.

"I can call him if you want," he offered and she shook her head.

"I can do that myself. The conference starts tomorrow and I'll be in town until Saturday afternoon. He should be able to find some minutes to spare."

Aiden nodded. He didn't really want to know exactly what Amanda and Kyle had to talk about, but he should have known she had come for the medical conference.

"Besides... how come I found out you have a girlfriend through five different channels?"

He made a face. "Should I have called you and told you that I had a girlfriend right away?" he asked back.

"Why not? Neither of us is getting any younger."

Aiden rolled his eyes - now it started again.

"And I would love to have a daughter-in-law and grandchildren and-"

"Mom. Please."

She pursed her lips and scrutinized him. His mother's three siblings all had grandchildren, and Aiden stood out in the ranks of his cousins as in so many other places.

"Erin and I are a new couple, okay?" he said slowly.

Amanda nodded and sighed. "Introduce her to me sometime." The opportunity was practically at her feet, after all, she was in town for several days, but he would definitely discuss that with Erin first before making hasty suggestions.

"I will," he promised and wrung a smile from himself. And then he protested as she grabbed him by the ears and pulled him towards her to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"I hope you have more than just cars on your mind now."

"Sure, Mom." With a distorted face he rubbed one ear, knowing that he was getting even dirtier than he already was.

"But don't make the same mistake your father did."

"No, Mom."

" _Callahan_ , really... It couldn't have been bigger."

"Mom..."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes, Mom."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Because I don't want to have this conversation." Wrong answer. Or at least an honest answer in the wrong tone of voice.

Amanda made a face. They weren't on good terms, and they both knew it was her fault. She was asking too much from a son she had pushed away without explanation. With a faint nod she took a step back. "Okay..."

"I'm sorry, I-", Aiden started, who was quite sorry to see his mom hurt and sad, but she interrupted him.

"No, it's okay. You're old enough not to need my interference. I just want you to be happy, okay? I don't know if a girl like her is right for you."

He nodded silently and she smiled wryly, walked the few steps to her car and drove away without another glance. Amanda was definitely not the best mother in the world, but compared to Joanna, she probably still won prizes- at least she cared.

~

Erin raised her eyes to the garish presentation, frowned as she saw the numbers on display, and glanced briefly at Joanna, who kept her face professionally neutral. For sure, she saw that the numbers in front were not quite right, but she would express her displeasure about it later.

Listening with half an ear, Erin turned back to her tablet- in one of her favorite stores there was a special offer and some of the men's clothing laughed at her. This aquamarine blue shirt, for example. Or the black and green sweater. And these jeans, combined with the pale pink polo shirt...

"...I'm sure Miss Callahan has the most up-to-date of the current numbers for us..."

She looked up questioningly at Winston Hammer, who had become nervous in the meantime. "The most up-to-date of the current numbers?" she echoed and he nodded with a blush. "They're not released yet." She didn't have the numbers in her head, but his were definitely not correct, even if they were apparently two different estimates.

"That is... unfortunate..."

"But standard," Joanna now interfered. "We have barely six weeks left, and I want to make the most of them."

Hammer nodded hurriedly under her stern gaze. "Of course, ma'am." He cleared his throat. "Well, then... perhaps it would be time to turn the floor over to Mr. Jameson."

Joanna nodded, and Erin turned back to online shopping. This meeting was completely unnecessary.

"Miss Callahan, ma'am-"

Without pausing in her quick walk, Erin glanced over her shoulder where Winston Hammer came rushing. "Mr. Hammer..."

"Please excuse the little-" He interrupted himself, knowing full well that _little_ was not the right word. "I mean... please, ma'am..."

" _Please_ \- what?" She looked at him questioningly and he almost tripped over his own feet. "Are you afraid you'll get fired?" Very obviously the answer was _yes_ , and she shook her head weakly. "Oh, please. How long have you been department head?"

"Not quite a year, ma'am," he replied quietly, pressing his presentation folder against himself. She looked at him briefly. He was still young, in his early thirties at most, and must have already had a steep career. The way he was behaving just now, made her wonder. And even if this mistake wasn't that small, it was still no reason to fire someone or promote him away.

She took a look at the watch. "Come to my office in half an hour."

He nodded hastily and she hurried on.

"Simon! Winston Hammer's personnel file, please."

"Huh? What did he do?" Simon looked up from his computer.

"Look at his file and then send it over," she said instead of an explanation, and Simon sighed as she rushed past him to her office. She wasn't a human resources manager, hadn't been involved in the decision on who should fill the post he now held, but she certainly believed that Christine Leclerc had written reasonable evaluations for her possible successors.

Fifteen minutes later, Simon strolled into her office, cleaning his glasses.

"There's nothing to complain about in his file," she remarked critically and Simon nodded.

"Have you looked at Leclerc's evaluations?"

"Only those for Hammer himself, very enthusiastic."

"Exactly." Simon nodded, put his glasses back on, and then smiled. "Looks good for Hammer, doesn't it?"

"And where is the _but_ seated?" She raised a brow, and Simon's smile widened.

"In Hammer's side office. Ernesto Monza. According to his file, he would have been better suited for the job and a promotion would even have been about time, but Leclerc's evaluation was much weaker."

"Interesting."

"Yes, isn't it?" Simon waved his eyebrows suggestively. "Bet he wants to crawl up your skirt."

"Simon!"

"Okay, fine, then no bet." He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"You know he's at the wrong address. And I mean that in a double sense," she returned and made a face while Simon sighed.

"Of course I know. How long should I make him wait outside?"

"Let me know when he's there. I'll let him sweat in here." She nodded at Simon, and he walked away with an affected hip swing.

Erin leisurely finished her order of clothes for Aiden, while Hammer tried to remain calm in the visitor's chair opposite her.

"What exactly do you want to talk about now?" she asked him friendly as she closed the website.

"First of all, I would like to sincerely apologize for the mistake. This should not have happened." He nodded at his words. "And I want to thank you for your leniency, ma'am."

"You don't need to." She placated him. "Just learn from this. Mrs. Leclerc was very fond of you and I think one grows with one's duties." That sounded arrogant, after all, she was quite young herself and already had a responsibility that many would have thankfully declined.

Hammer nodded thoughtfully. "I guess presentations are not my strength. They never were."

_Everybody hates presentations_ , Erin thought and nodded simply, although Hammer had his eyes on the nervously twitching fingers in his lap.

"Mrs. Leclerc didn't mind," he continued, and then went on to beat about the bush for a while, so that a little later Erin, slightly annoyed, rolled back her office chair and crossed her legs in a way that made her bare knee stick out over the edge of the desk.

Simon had been right. Hammer stumbled in the middle of the word, cleared his throat and then continued.

"I'd really like to offer you, given the opportunity... I mean..."

"Mr. Hammer, you know very well that you are actually far too small a fish for my time," she said coolly. The words were a bit harsh, but his shuffling around was getting on her nerves.

His already perfectly straight posture tensed, as if he wanted to jump up at any moment. "I'm very sorry, Miss Callahan, to take up your time, but I can assure you... Mrs. Leclerc was exceedingly pleased." The way he licked his lips and sucked his lower lip briefly said enough.

"I'm not sure if we've understood each other correctly, but what exactly do you hope to achieve?"

"Leniency regarding my mistake, and perhaps a good word in the right place..."

They looked at each other and after a moment he stood up. She saw his hands tremble a little, yet he walked quickly around the desk. She turned the chair in his direction and he paused, swayed a little as if he wanted to get down on his knees immediately before her, but then stopped.

"Miss Callahan, may I be of service?"

"Mr. Hammer-"

"Winston will do, ma'am." In one smooth movement he sank to his knees and touched her with fingers cold from nervousness. Obviously he didn't like to do that, but why did he do it at all?

"Mr. Hammer, let me remind you that the numbers you are playing with represent sums of money," she said, hoping that she sounded dismissive enough to stop him without having to say so directly. The situation was embarrassing enough.

Hammer paused, his lips barely an inch from her knee, and looked at her almost innocently. "Yes, ma'am, I am aware of it."

"So... am I to overlook your mistake? I mean, I would have done so anyway this first time, but what about other mistakes?"

His lips touched her skin after all. "I'm entirely and always at your disposal, ma'am."

She was disgusted. "My boyfriend is always at my disposal too, but as for him, all I have to worry about is keeping ice-cream in the freezer and not about him fucking up my finances."

That hit home. Hammer blushed. "I..."

"And now please leave my office before I feel compelled to turn this embarrassment into a sexual harassment report."

He jumped up like he had burned himself on her and went white as a sheet. "I beg your pardon, Miss Callahan. This kind of indiscretion will not happen again."

"I sincerely hope not." She looked after him and made a face. Suddenly she was very much in the mood for the company of an innocent soul like Aiden, and with that, without knowing it, he had earned himself a large cup of the best vanilla-macadamia-brittle ice cream there was.


	14. Chapter 14

Aiden left the lingerie store with a feeling of relief. He still felt as if his face was burning, but actually it was just his hand because he had done his task. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sighed.

"Give your girlfriend the underwear."

Of course. What else? Aiden was aware that Mike was right - he had to take the initiative in some sense. But _underwear_ was a very risky move in a newly established fake relationship.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket and was about to start moving when Josh and his girlfriend came out of the shoe store across the street. That too. Tomorrow he would be given a lot of jokes to listen to.

Josh promptly raised his hand in greeting, a grin on his face.

Just in that moment Aiden's phone started to vibrate and he pulled it out again.

"Hey, darling..." He swallowed and the hand holding the pretty little bag in gift-look became sweaty.

"Hey, love. You wouldn't happen to have time to stop by?" It sounded like Erin was sitting in the car.

"Uh, yes, I do. Why?"

"I bought some clothes for you and-"

"You did what?", he asked half surprised, half horrified in between.

"- and you'd have to try on a few things." She sounded like his mom.

"Uh... okay. I'll be at your place in... 20 minutes."

"Very good. Kisses!"

Aiden sighed as Josh and his girlfriend reached him.

"Trouble in paradise?" Josh mockingly asked and Aiden shook his head, was about to start an answer when Josh's girlfriend - whose name he couldn't remember due to Asian unfamiliarity - squealed enthusiastically.

"Oh, the new collection is here? What are the clothes like? What did you buy?"

"Uh..."

She kept babbling, sometimes quite nonsense, and Aiden remembered that Josh had once said she was dumb as a bag of hay. She probably had other advantages.

"Sweetie, I guess Aiden has plans for that..." Josh then gently interrupted her and her face took on a mischievous expression.

"Well, we won't keep you."

"Uh... thanks..."

  
  


When Aiden reached Erin's apartment, the door was only ajar and he entered almost hesitantly.

"No, I spoke with Mary," Erin just said, and he quietly closed the door behind him before walking a few steps further and discovering her at her desk - on the phone and scribbling something on a notepad.

"No. No, Simon, listen, take care of it and..." She sighed and looked up, gave Aiden a tired smile and he smiled back. However, this slipped out of place when he saw the two large boxes that stood next to the couch and had the big _'Mondo Reale'_ writing on them.

He stood there a little indecisively while she talked to her assistant, wondering how much money was in the boxes. _Mondo Reale_ was expensive.

"No, I'd rather forget the idiot. So please tell him- yes, that sounds good. Thank you. You're a sweetheart." She sighed and Aiden smiled crookedly.

"Long day?"

She shrugged. "The usual. Yesterday was worse. Speaking of which... Get undressed, you have a few things to try on. Anything we don't like or that doesn't fit you will be sent right back."

"What, here and now?", he wanted to know a little surprised, while she went into the kitchen to get some scissors for the parcel tape.

"Of course. No false shyness..."

He blinked unsettled and hesitated long enough that she had opened the first package and was already taking out neatly wrapped shirts before he put his little gift bag on a dresser and took off his shirt. When they had bought the suits for him, she had already seen him without a shirt, but somehow this was different.

She held up a pale pink shirt. "Hmm... it looked better online."

"Really? _Pink_?"

She took a look at him, held the shirt to his chest and then shook her head. "If you let your hair grow a little, it looks awful. No pink."

Aiden was relieved - until she pulled out a pair of washed-out pale blue jeans and a garish belt.

"I want to make sure that we have an outfit for the garden party for you," she explained and nodded encouragingly. "Come on..."

It was anything but helpful that she watched him take off his jeans and then tortured himself into the new and very tight one. When she held the belt out to him, he shook his head. "I definitely _don't_ need that."

"It's not about need, it's about looks."

He sighed and threaded the belt into the loops. "Satisfied?"

She raised a brow and her lips curled in a way that suddenly made him feel very warm. With a minimal nod she reached for the next bag and pulled out a dark green flannel shirt, which she threw to him.

"What kind of garden party is it?" he wanted to know and slipped into the shirt.

"Oh, totally relaxed. At least by high society standards. Just a few families, maybe a hundred guests."

"Relaxed, huh?" He paused to button up when she looked at him critically.

"Very familiar atmosphere," she said. "Open up."

With a stifled sigh, he undid the buttons.

"Here, put this underneath."

Irritated, he looked at the black thing. "This is an undershirt," he said. "It's summer."

But she nodded. "That's right. You put it under and leave the shirt open. The sleeves are rolled up a little and _voilà_!" She smiled at him enthusiastically.

It took him almost two hours to try everything on and get permission to put on his own clothes again. With all these new outfits he could easily show up at ten different rather casual events.

"Listen, Erin," he started off cautiously, "that's really nice of you, but I'm sure there are," he took a look at the mess of clothes on her couch, "two thousand dollars and-"

Erin, who had just gone through the order list, turned around and let him fall silent with a finger on his lips. "This is my business, okay?"

"But-"

"Shh." Meaningly, she looked at him until he nodded.

"Thank you," he muttered embarrassed and got a satisfied smile.

~

Erin was quite surprised by how much fun it was. She had never enjoyed playing with dolls as a child, but dressing and undressing Aiden was definitely very entertaining. And a nice sight too. Not the hard muscles of guys like Mike, but even a grizzly looks fluffy until it unpacks its claws.

And with a teddy look he looked at her as he cleared his throat and then took the little gift bag from the dresser, which she had noticed but had not yet taken seriously.

"For you...", he muttered awkwardly and his ears were already red when she just accepted the bag.

Astonished, she looked at the familiar lettering of a lingerie store and was actually speechless for a moment when she pulled out a turquoise bra. And then it clicked.

"You actually listened, hmm? The color tone fits perfectly." Perfect with the turquoise dress she had bought a while ago and showed him in a chatty mood last Saturday. She hadn't been able to wear it yet, because even her skin-colored underwear looked awful with it.

"My stepfather once said that women are most happy about things they wished for between the lines," Aiden said quietly.

"Obviously a smart man." She grinned at him and kissed him on the cheek, whereupon he got even more color. Still, she could not imagine that he had come up with the idea of giving her _underwear_ of all things. This straightforward approach smelled more like Mike. Nevertheless, she was happy about it and because she was in a good mood, she kissed him on the other cheek as well. "Thank you."

He was more than a little embarrassed and had probably struggled a lot with himself before he bought the set, but he smiled shyly. "Let no one claim that I don't care about my girlfriend."

That made her laugh. "Even without such gifts, I wouldn't let anyone think that. Thanks anyway. This is very thoughtful and extremely sweet of you. You didn't have to do that, you know."

She almost expected an explanation, but he just nodded.


	15. Chapter 15

"What's up?", Erin snapped into her phone without even looking at the name of the caller.

"Um... hey, darling...?" a startled Aiden replied reluctantly.

"I'm busy, love." Serious, but far less annoyed. Nevertheless, Simon, who was sitting opposite her and typing on his tablet, looked at her with a raised brow.

"Um..."- an insecure sniff- "what about our sushi night?"

Oh, fuck, she totally blew that! And now she and Simon were in the middle of important documents.

"You've forgotten," he noted with a questioning undertone.

"Yes. No. I mean, I'm up to my neck in documents and-"

"It's okay, just tell me what to do now."

"You're there already?" she asked in surprise.

"We had an appointment half an hour ago," he replied soberly.

"Oh, damn..." She had completely forgotten the time and this not only on her holy Friday, but on top of that on a... uh... fake date. "Damn, I'm sorry. Simon, how much longer is this going to take?"

Simon sighed. "Don't worry, I'll get it done. You take care of your boyfriend. After all, you have one." He gave her a meaningful look and she sighed.

"You are a sweetheart. Aiden?"

"I'm here and waiting."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Shitty day?", he asked cautiously as she picked him up at the gatekeeper of the apartment complex and gave him a kiss as a greeting.

"You could say that." And it wasn't just because of all the papers. As they walked across the grounds to her house, she looked up at Aiden. He looked tired, but gave her a shy smile when he noticed her gaze. With his hands in his trouser pockets, a backpack thrown over one shoulder and in a T-shirt whose brand hadn't been in production for years, he looked completely out of place here. She could tell that he knew it, and when two men in elegant evening suits approached them, he slumped even more.

"You can hold my hand, you know," she said, and that seemed to pull him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, sure..." He held out his hand to her and when she put hers in, it almost disappeared into it. Big and warm and rough, like a storm anchor.

Aiden didn't let her go until the apartment door behind them fell into the lock. "Oh, pretty flowers," he noticed and she snorted in annoyance as she shook the pumps off her feet.

"They were sent by an employee of mine. As an apology." Winston Hammer seemed to have a tendency to exaggerate even there.

"What has he done?" Aiden wanted to know curiously and she sighed again before she disappeared into the bedroom to put on comfortable clothes.

"Who said it was a _HE_?" she asked back.

"Aren't flowers the classic apology of men?" Now a bit of amusement crept into Aiden's voice.

"I guess you're right. But it is a little pathetic."

"So what has he done?"

"It seems that Winston Hammer is one of those guys who licks his way up the career ladder."

"Excuse me?"

"Sex, Aiden." She stepped back into the living room and caught his irritated look. "He offered me sexual favors."

"Oh." Aiden made a face.

"I refused." Determined, she walked past Aiden - who was standing a little lost in the middle of the living room - to the hall dresser where she had left her phone.

"Why?" he asked and she raised an eyebrow.

"Even if I didn't have a boyfriend, I would have refused. I prefer employees whose skills serve the company."

"Now, it could be argued that you _are_ the company..."

The remark surprised her, so she turned the question around. "Would you mercifully wave aside a mistake just because someone's sucking your dick?"

"That wasn't the point of the discussion now," he defended himself in bright red.

"I'll take that as a _yes_."

"No! Heavens, no, I didn't mean it that way..."

"So I must continue to pay you in disdainful money to take care of Ladybug." She smiled mockingly at him.

"Job and relationship are two different things," he said slowly and pointed with both index fingers in different directions.

"Well, that's why there's no tongue action under the desk." She winked at him and then pointed to the couch. "Let's order."

When the order was sent and Erin was in the kitchen getting drinks and napkins, Aiden suddenly said:

"My mom wants to meet you."

"Sure," she returned and nodded with a smile. However, he didn't seem very happy and so she asked, "Is there something wrong with it?"

"My mom and I don't have the best relationship in the world."

"Why not, if you don't mind me asking?" If she remembered correctly, his mom was a doctor, the specialty had slipped her mind, if he even mentioned it.

He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "She asks too much of me. She only respects my decisions after discussions in which I have to remind her that we just don't get along very well. She usually acts like everything's fine."

"And it's not."

"No. I mean, I'm okay with the rest of the family in the background, but..." A little helplessly he shrugged and Erin simply nodded. "I actually lived with my grandparents," he then suddenly continued. "First she studied, then she was actually only in the hospital. But... the little time she had for me was nice. My grandma used to be a teacher in an elementary school and I remember the three of us would spend hours making seasonal crafts." A faint smile flitted across his face but was almost immediately replaced by a bitter expression. "And then one afternoon she put me in the car with packed bags and took me to this man I didn't know. They shouted at each other for almost two hours and then she drove away crying."

"Wow...", it escaped Erin in shock. "How old were you?"

"Almost nine. I had never seen my father before and stood there completely lost in the garage yard, while he explained to me that I should suddenly live with him now." Again he paused. "Lucas really tried hard not to lose contact with my family on my mother's side, but my mom was gone for almost ten years. And then she comes back and acts like nothing ever happened, drags me to her wedding and demands that I move to her small town and study medicine there."

"Seriously?" Erin asked in amazement and Aiden nodded, then shrugged.

"I have no idea what she was thinking, why she disappeared back then, but I guess I wouldn't get a decent answer if I ever asked anyway."

"That's sad." It surprised Erin, though, that Aiden had obviously never asked those same questions.

"I know. But it's gotten better over the years. Now she's not so much bothering with studies anymore as she is bothering with marriage." He rolled his eyes and she had to smile.   
Until she remembered that she was in the position to have to deal with it.

A somewhat uncomfortable silence arose, which actually lasted until the food arrived. They arranged the huge mountain of sushi on the coffee table and sat down on the floor in front of it in Asian style.

"Any suggestions on the subject of film?" she wanted to know and broke the chopsticks apart.

"As long as it's neither romantic drama nor horror..." He threw a critical glance at her and carefully opened a can of soy sauce.

"Uh, no. I can't do anything with that either."

Between the first bites, they decided to go for the first _Iron Man_ \- which they had both seen several times before and you could chat alongside, which, from Erin's perspective, was really pleasant. Although they only talked about trivialities, they were different trivialities than she would have discussed with her usual friends and that was very refreshing.

When she handed Aiden a tray with only one of the four types of sushi that had been in it, he raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you like it?"

"No, it's got avocado in it."

"Avocado is not the end of the world." Aiden, presumably subconsciously, took on Tony Stark's casual tone.

"Avocado's gross. So greasy and slimy and tasteless and squishy...", she returned and took a bite with the chopsticks, which was garnished with caviar.

"You think avocado is disgusting and you eat fish eggs?"

"You certainly eat chicken eggs too, don't you?" she asked back and raised an eyebrow as he grimaced.

"That's different. Mike said, the stuff is grating between the teeth."

"Since when does Mike eat something that comes out of the water?"

"I guess in your world you can't get around this stuff, but still. Crunching sounds are never good."

"Sand in the gears is not the same as crunching food."

"And with stupid jokes like that, you ask me why I don't like _Transformers_?"

"You're a car guy." She shrugged and he rolled his eyes. Slightly offended, he said:

"Suggestion: You eat that thing with avocado, I'll try your caviar." Fittingly, he lifted an avocado bite and held it out to her.

She looked skeptically at the pale green flesh amidst rice and grimaced.

"Come on, deals are your staff of life. This is a win-win."

She denied herself the question of who was making the stupid jokes now, and said instead: "I see this more as lose-lose."

He shrugged. "Whatever. Equal rights for all."

With a sigh, she nodded. "Fine."

And then they shoved the unwanted sushi in each other's mouths. It was kind of silly and the romance that could have been inherent in this moment under different circumstances went down the drain because of their mutual disgust. Almost simultaneously they reached for the water glasses to wash the stuff down.

The second film - the first part of _Thor_ \- was almost lost while they took turns in storytelling.

"Why don't you ever talk about your father?" Aiden wanted to know when Erin was about to ask if they were going to start a third film. It had gotten late, but the question spoiled the mood a bit, although she could understand it a little, after all William Callahan was a well-known thriller writer.

"My parents separated unofficially," she said, playing with the hem of her T-shirt.

"Before or after your brother disappeared?" he asked surprisingly gentle and she snorted bitterly.

"After my father processed Alex's disappearance into a new thriller and thus landed on bestseller lists worldwide. Mom threw him out, even though she didn't shed a single tear for Alex herself." It was a painful subject, both concerning Alex and her father. "He now lives permanently in one of our summer homes and..." She paused and then finished the sentence differently than it had been on her tongue at first. "...and hopes that his second writer's block will go away."

Aiden nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay. You were talking about your mom, so I can talk about my dad. Besides... you should know anyway." She gave him a wry smile and he nodded again.

~

A little tense they changed the subject and talked about colleagues, school friends and the like, but Aiden could watch Erin switch off more and more.

"May I?", she suddenly interrupted him in the middle of the sentence and he looked at her questioningly, but without another word she pushed his arm to the side and snuggled up to him.

"What I... actually wanted to say..." he stumbled over his own tongue, saw her yawning and in the next moment she seemed to have already fallen asleep. Totally astonished he blinked at her. "Erin?"

She sighed and her hand twitched on his belly.

"Okay...", he murmured to himself and because he couldn't quite believe it, he pulled out his phone and made a quick selfie before watching the messages he had missed.

There had been both encouraging and questioning comments from Mike in particular, and so Aiden typed:

_"She's asleep."_

_"Seems like you're a pretty boring date,"_ Mike returned mockingly, and Aiden sent the picture without comment.

_"Cuddly. Now you can pretend that you both fell asleep and wake up with her in your arms tomorrow."_

_"No. I'm gonna put her to bed."_

_"Quite the gentleman,"_ Mike mocked further, but with a wink-eyed emoji.

_"Well, the role of the bad boy is already taken,"_ Aiden wrote back and, seeing that Lucifer had also assigned him a new task, he opened his chat.

Under "Feed your girlfriend." it directly said "Kiss your girlfriend good night."

Aiden sighed. "Good night," he murmured - and felt stupid doing so - before he kissed her on the temple carefully.

The countdown in his hand kept ticking.

The opportunity to kiss her properly was there, but kissing a sleeping woman without her consent didn't seem right to him. A fake relationship was _not_ consent in his eyes. And Lucifer probably knew that. But hey, if he played fair, he probably wouldn't be a fallen angel.

After another sigh, he carefully lifted Erin up and carried her to her bed where he gently laid her down. As he brushed a strand of hair from her face, she sighed almost comfortably and he smiled involuntarily.

"Good night," he whispered a second time and then bent over to kiss her on the mouth. Inwardly, he actually had to count to thirteen before his hand became warm and told him that the task was done.


	16. Chapter 16

"Be good," Erin said quietly, giving another gentle kiss to Aiden, who nodded silently, and seconds later she closed the door behind him.

Josy giggled in the background. "God, he's really cute."

Erin turned to her and smiled. "Yeah, he is."

Leaning against the doorframe, Josy winked at her. "Really, that puppy eye... does he sit next to you all the time wagging his tail until you pay attention to him?"

"Oh, you know..." Erin sauntered past her into the kitchen to make them two large creamy cappuccinos as a prelude to brunch, "he spends most of his time bent over actually. Or on his knees. Or his back."

"Erin!" Josy looked at her with feigned indignation.

"What? I told you he's a car mechanic. He's got to take care of his sweethearts somehow, right?" she returned dryly, getting a punch in the upper arm in return.

"You bitch!" But Josy was giggling again. As the coffee machine hummed and the milk frother whirred, however, she became serious. "Are we going to stick a little closer to the truth now?"

Erin smiled wryly. Aiden had blushing inquired if he should have woken her up instead of just carrying her to her bed, but the gesture itself was just already so sweet and caring that she couldn't even begin to be mad at him. "He's a very thoughtful and loving man," she finally said.

Josy raised a brow. "You usually find guys like that boring."

Now Erin shrugged. "I know. But things change. I had a talk with Jayden, and some of the things he said- and how he said them- made me think." That wasn't really true, but Josy nodded. "And I had an... interesting conversation with Mike."

"Mike? Like- _Mike_?" Josy raised her eyebrows in amazement, and Erin nodded.

"It's kind of funny that Mike and Aiden are best friends, but just that contrast..." At Josy's aghast expression, she paused. "What?"

"Oh, well that explains why the conversation was so interesting."

Erin sighed. "What I'm saying is... it's that very contrast that makes Aiden so interesting."

Josy looked at her skeptically. "So you're saying you're going to try something new. And how long do you think that will last?"

And because Erin had to give the impression of being genuinely in love, she smiled a little silly. "Hopefully a very long time."  
  


~  
  


Aiden's hand had grown warm under a new task just as some hose broke under Ronny's fingers and the liquid- washer fluid? Coolant?- splashed them both in the face. Just in time, Aiden caught a drop that would have otherwise run into his eye, and Ronny spat on the floor in disgust.

"Right now I deeply regret letting Kyle do the paperwork," Aiden muttered, wiping his face again.

Ronny snorted in subliminal amusement. "Was wondering why you put yourself up to the physical labor."

Aiden raised a brow before he realized what Ronny was getting at. He snorted. "The lady of the house fell asleep on the couch completely overworked. My occupation? Carrying her to bed and digesting half a ton of sushi."

Ronny laughed and Aiden couldn't help a subtle smile.

The rest of the work went surprisingly easily for them, as if that incident, that brief laugh, had cleared some blockage. As Aiden left the repair bay because he wanted to have a quick word with Kyle before closing time, a black sports car he knew well pulled up and parked in a single clean move.

Aiden simply raised a brow in greeting as Mike got out and slammed the door. "You don't drive a tank."

"May I?" Mike asked in lieu of answer or greeting, pulling a matte black metal cigarette case from his pocket.

"The answer's the same as always: no. What's the matter? You look like crap." Now Aiden frowned, and because Mike sighed deeply, he nodded toward the house.

"How about it, Aiden, are we stuffing ourselves with burgers, watching cheap movies, and pretending we're not drowning in responsibility?" Mike sounded really grumpy.

"Sounds good to me. As long as you explain first _why_." Aiden started moving to scrub his hands in the small room where their lockers were, just expecting Mike to follow him for the explanation. After all, this was his property. More or less, anyway.

"Where do I start?" Mike began, exasperated, annoyed, overwhelmed. "This fucking program we're supposed to be writing doesn't work at all."

Hands full of soap foam, Aiden gave a short hum; he knew as little about programming as Mike knew about the inner workings of a car hood.

"My father's meddling in my life again without being asked, Noah's crying all over me about his problems, Danny's halfway to jail again, and my car's making funny noises."

"None of that's new," Aiden commented calmly, drying his hands. "And as for your car, I told you before Singapore to let me take a look." Into Mike's sigh, he hung the towel away and took a quick glance at his phone.

"Yeah, yeah... I'll leave the car right here, satisfied?"

"Party till the sun rises."

Great, just his style. "What? Yeah, leave it, I'll take you home..." He glanced up briefly and saw Mike raise a brow.

"Summer's off to a shitty start," he said.

"Depends..." Aiden muttered, feeling a little overwhelmed by the new task at hand. There were only three clubs in the entire city that had permission to be open like this, and one was worse than the other. The phone in his hand vibrated briefly.

**L:** _"Tell him a nice little lie if you think you need his help."_

"Aiden?"

Had Mike said anything more? "Hmm?" Aiden rubbed his forehead and set the phone aside to change.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah..." What lie was he going to tell? "Why don't we just go out?"

"And go where?" Mike asked unenthusiastically.

"To some club?" Aiden heard for himself how unconvinced he sounded and Mike looked at him suspiciously.

"Aiden... it's been almost four years since you've been to a club, and that's only because Danny and I dragged you in. So where did you get that idea?"

Lie! Quick. Aiden's gaze fell on one of the photos scattered chaotically around the room. "Lucas made... me some kind of list," he began slowly. "Kind of a to-do list and..."

"Thirty things you should have done before your 30th birthday?" mocked Mike good-naturedly.

The idea sounded better than Aiden had hoped. He grinned wryly. "Something like that. A friend of him is helping me with it, and I promised him I'd do it on my own, but..."

"But?"

"Partying until the sun comes up is... well... not my cup of tea."

Mike laughed. "That's what lists like this are all about, isn't it? Either making wishes come true or going above and beyond. And with all due respect, you really need the latter."

"Thanks." Aiden returned dryly. He finished changing and then looked at Mike, who looked back thoughtfully.

"Okay, first the paperwork for my car and then... let's party!"


	17. Chapter 17

It took Aiden a moment to realize what had torn him from his sleep. The doorbell. His blurry vision didn't clear with frantic blinking, and he couldn't find his phone as he felt for it, but the ringing repeated itself relentlessly.

"Shit..." he muttered, staggering to his feet. On his way to the door, he tripped over his jeans, then his shoes. A murderous hangover pounded in his head, lay like a fur coat on his tongue, and rumbled suspiciously in his stomach.

"Yeah...?" he asked into the intercom and was surprised by a hissing sound on the other end.

"Aiden! What the hell is going on with you? Let me in, right now!" The woman on the other end sounded like she was about to jump right through the intercom to strangle him.

"Erin?"

"How many women do you usually expect to see on a Sunday morning?" she spat at him.

He spared a comment and pressed the door opener instead, then looked down at himself and was relieved to find that at least he was wearing his underpants. Slowly he opened the apartment door and immediately heard hurried footsteps- it wasn't far to the third floor and a little later Erin was already stabbing him with stares from the stairs.

Without a word, she pushed him back into the apartment far enough to close the door behind her, and suddenly Aiden had the unpleasant feeling that he was about to be slapped. Instead, she took a deep breath.

"What in the name of Jesus and all the Saints were you thinking? Where have you been? What were you doing? And how... urgh." She grimaced, interrupting her fierce rant.

"I was out with Mike." he said quietly, because her voice made it ring in his ears, and then added a _'sorry'_ as she backed away a bit. Probably he didn't smell too good.

"With Mike... Where?"

"The Golden Mermaid."

"The... Are you out of your mind, hanging out in a shithole like this? Do you know what kind of impression that gives?"

Even if he hadn't had a headache- she was definitely talking way too loud. "Erin..." It was a low, almost pleading murmur.

"You got drunk, in a club like this, and didn't even think it was necessary to tell me anything?" she continued.

Admittedly, he hadn't given any thought to what she might think of it. After all, she'd been in a relationship with Mike, and he'd done entirely different things.

"I've been trying to call you, Aiden! First you don't answer, then your phone is off!" In an angry, resigned gesture, she threw her hands in the air. "We have an agreement."

_Have_ \- not had.

Had she been worried? And if so, for him or for her reputation?

"I'm sorry..." he muttered. Probably any further explanation or apology was useless anyway.

"You reek of cheap club." She wrinkled her nose.

"Sorry." he repeated dully. Even without her tantrum, he'd felt lousy, thanks to Mike and Kevin and the booze. He didn't usually drink much, if at all, but the evening had clearly gotten out of hand. In fact, he could only dimly remember getting into a cab.

Erin, after a moment of silence, now suddenly pushed past him and he turned to follow her. His tiny apartment was swaying. She ripped open two of the three windows and then looked around with equal measure of criticism and curiosity. In fact, except for someone for repair and stuff alike and his mother, no woman had ever been in here.

Aiden leaned against the short side of his sofa bed, and as the material touched his bare thigh, he became embarrassingly aware again that he was wearing mere underpants. He was also embarrassed by his thrown-together furniture, a certain amount of mess, and the dust, but a bigger problem was definitely his hangover.

Erin made a soft sound of surprise and then walked around his desk before picking up a charcoal gray motorbike helmet from a shelf with strange awe. "What happened to this one?" she wanted to know, stroking the completely bruised surface with her fingertips.

"Had an encounter with the asphalt." That was pretty much the standard answer when it came to such battered helmets, and so it came fluidly over Aiden's dry lips.

"This is yours?"

With her gaze glued to the white **AM-23** applied to the back of its head, he said _'yes'_ instead of nodding.

Now she raised her eyes and looked at him scrutinizingly. "What did the rest of you look like?"

"A few broken bones." Plus a six-month stay in the hospital including three surgeries.

Matching his rather superficial answer, she raised a brow and tapped the numbers with her fingernail. "Why the 23?"

He didn't like to talk about the subject, and he'd really only kept the helmet as a reminder, a grim memory of how lucky he'd been that day. Although it didn't do any good, he rubbed his forehead. "I was doing races," he said slowly. In the closed compartment of the shelf below the helmet were his trophies. "The last race of the season. The guy who provoked the accident didn't make it."

Dumbfounded, she looked at him, glanced at the helmet in her hands, then back at him. "You stopped doing that...?"

He nodded, the movement hurting. "I could have moved up to the higher leagues, but I let it go." You probably didn't get that lucky twice in your life, and back then his dreams for the future had included having a family of his own.

Carefully, she put the helmet back in place and then looked at Aiden as if she suddenly had a different person in front of her. "I admittedly don't like motorbikes." she said quietly and with a smile that surprised him because of the shyness in it.

Cautiously, he nodded. There were a lot of people who thought bikes were totally cool, but at the same time, way too dangerous. "We always take a ride in late summer," he said, rubbing his aching forehead again. "Lucas, Kyle, in the past my grandpa and me. Three or four weeks." Then he realized it wouldn't be that way this year. When his grandpa had died, he had wanted them to continue with it, and they had, even if it had been hard. But just together with Kyle? That didn't go well for even a few hours in the garage if one of them was having a bad day.

Erin's phone gave a bright _ping_ and Aiden could watch as a cool mask slid back over her face. She stepped in front of him and poked his bare chest with her finger. "Don't _ever_ do that again, you hear me?"

"Won't happen again..." he assured her. When he was fully sobered up, he would have to think about this strange scene.

"You wouldn't happen to have a spare key for me, would you?" she then wanted to know.

"Why...?"

"I'm your girlfriend, remember?" She sounded annoyed, and Aiden nodded weakly before trudging over to the desk and pulling out a spare set of keys which until recently had been in Lucas' possession. "Thanks."

He nodded mutely, then winced when she touched him on the upper arm.

"Go back to bed, you look terrible." And with that, she left him standing.

Puzzled, he looked after her. Why did women have to have so many different facets?  
  


~  
  


When Aiden hadn't answered the phone, various things had gone through Erin's mind during the evening - some of them very unpleasant, others extremely irrational. In addition, she wasn't quite sure where she stood with Aiden, because she didn't know him at all, and being shy around women didn't mean anything. She had even thought about talking to Mike, but he would just end up making fun of her.

In the end, she drove to the garage Monday afternoon and had barely gotten out of the car when Aiden was already approaching her.

"Is everything okay with Ladybug?"

She nodded. "Everything's fine." Then she smiled wryly up at him. "I wanted to apologize. About yesterday."

"Oh. Yeah... well, you're right, I should have let you know..." he mumbled sheepishly, blushing. He still looked tired and there was something dark stuck around his right eye.

"It's okay..." Actually, it wasn't for her, but she had to keep in mind that he had no experience with women and relationships and that in the mix with an artificial relationship probably formed enough stumbling blocks. That's why she kept her smile. "Still, not again."

"No." He also tried a smile and she gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. "I..." it sounded like a choked exhale and he cleared his throat before starting again, "I got my bike back out. After Lucas sold his, I let him have it because I didn't ride it much anyway, but..."

"Why did Lucas sell his?" she wanted to know, while Aiden was already taking a step back. Something somber flitted across his face.

"Because Lucas' finances didn't look as rosy as he would have liked..."

"Ah..." She didn't reply more, but instead followed Aiden across the yard to such a packed repair bay that there wasn't room for a car in it. A motorbike, however, fit.

Almost proudly, he pointed to it. "Nothing to race, but equally nimble and enduring."

Motorbikes were definitely hot and with the right guy on it... fucking hell! "I'll still never get on it." Gently she shook her head and he smiled wryly, blushing again.

"It won't suit you, either."

"Good." She nodded and gave Josh, who was coming closer, a friendly smile. "Okay, I've got some work to do, and I'll leave you to your motorized sweetheart. But darling, remember, we're going to the Hawthornes on Saturday." It was strange to be looking forward to it and yet have a stomachache at the same time- both because of Aiden.

"I can't forget, darling, because you'll remind me. Walking schedule." He said it lovingly and kissed her gently on the temple, but she still felt a little annoyed about it.

"I'll call you later..."


End file.
